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THE  WRITINGS  OF 
JAMES    BRECK   PERKINS 

IN   SIX  VOLUMES 
VOLUME  IV 


88C 


FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 


BY 


JAMES   BRECK   PERKINS 

AUTHOR  OF  "  FRANCB  UNDER  THE  REGENCY  " 


IN   TWO  VOLUMES 
VOLUME   L 


BOSTON   AND    NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON    MIFFLlfj    COMPANY 

Cite  iMott^tte  ^xtftfi  Cambriboe 


78284 


Copyright,  1897, 
Br  JAMES  BRECK  PERKIN& 

All  rights  reserved. 


College 
Library 

ID  C- 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Condition  of  France.  

^  rxoB 

Character  of  Government 1 

Authority  of  the  King       .......  2 

Etiquette  of  the  Court 4 

Amusements  at  Court       .......  6 

Adulation  of  the  King 8 

Number  of  Attendants      .......  9 

Character  of  Louis  XV 11 

Expenses  of  the  Government 14 

Perquisites  of  Officials          .......  15 

Choice  of  Ministers 17 

Superintendents 19 

Lack  of  Local  Government       .         .         .         .         .         .  20 

Authority  of  the  Parliament 22 

Influence  of  the  Nobility  .......  23 

Provincial  Nobility 25 

Nobility  of  the  Court 27 

Their  Pecuniary  Embarrassments         .         .         .         .         .29 

Their  Privileges        ........  31 

Amount  of  Pensions      ........  32 

Exemption  from  Taxation         ......  33 

Wealthy  Bourgeois 34 

Nature  of  the  Peasantry  .......  36 

Number  of  the  Peasantry     .......  38 

Amount  of  Laud  held  by  them          .....  40 

Taxation  imposed  upon  them        ......  41 

Their  Bad  Condition 44 

Improvement  in  their  Condition 46 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Ministry  of  the  Duke  of  Boukbon. 

1723-1726. 

Early  Career  of  Fleury 48 

The  Duke  of  Bourbon 51 

His  Appointment  as  Prime  Minister        ....  62 

His  Character 63 

Abdication  of  Philip  V 64 

His  Return  to  the  Throne 66 

Dismissal  of  the  Spanish  Infanta 67 

Louis  XY.'s  Marriage  decided  on 68 

Selection  of  Marie  Leszczynski 62 

Marriage  of  the  King 63 

Condition  of  the  Huguenots 65 

Revolt  of  the  Camisards 67 

Huguenots  treated  with  more  Leniency    ....  68 

New  Edicts  of  Persecution 70 

Their  Results 71 

Execution  of  Clergymen 73 

Women  confined  at  Aigues  Mortes 76 

Their  Release 78 

Paris  Brothers 79 

Efforts  to  tax  Church  Property 80 

Changes  in  the  Currency 82 

Organization  of  the  Bourse  .......  83 

Disgrace  of  Bourbon         .......  85 

CHAPTER  IIL 
The  Ministry  of  Cardinal  Fleubt. 

1726-1743. 

Fleury  becomes  Chief  Minister 87 

Character  of  his  Administration 88 

Improved  Condition  of  Finances 89 

Currency  established  on  a  Fixed  Basis      ....  91 

Improvement  of  Highways  .......  93 

The  Royal  Corvee 94 


CONTENTS.  T 

Character  of  the  King 97 

Alliance  between  Spain  and  Austria         .         .        .        .        d8 

Quarrels  over  the  Unigenitus 99 

Unpopularity  of  the  Jesuits 102 

The  Nouvelles  Ecelesiastiques 103 

Quarrels  with  the  Parliament 10& 

Miracles  of  the  Deacon  Paris 107 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  War  of  the  Polish  Succession. 

1733-1738. 

Condition  of  Parliament 112 ' 

Stanislaus  Leszczynski 113 ' 

His  Candidacy  for  Reelection  as  King  of  Poland      .         .      114 

Bribery  in  the  Election 116  — ' 

Election  of  Stanislaus 118  "^ 

Augustus  III.  also  elected  King 120    - — 

Russians  besiege  Dantzic 121  ^ — • 

Escape  of  Stanislaus .  123  — 

War  between  France  and  Austria 124  — 

Abdication  of  the  King  of  Sardinia 125"  "" 

Character  of  Charles  Emmanuel  III 127  'ZZ^ 

Establishment  of  Spanish  Princes  in  Italy  ....  128 ' 

Treaty  of  Turin 130 

Relations  between  France  and  Spain 131      ~ 

Injurious  Effect  of  Spanish  Alliance         ....       13& 

Trade  Relations  with  Spain 138-"'^ 

Character  of  Philip  V 140-^ 

Condition  of  Spain        .        .     ' 142— — 

FamUy  Compact  of  1733 145^: — 

War  with  Austria 146.  ,  ,_ 

Campaign  in  Italy 147 

Conquest  of  Naples  by  Don  Carlos 150— r~ 

Death  of  Villars  and  Berwick 152  ,J) 

Negotiations  for  Peace         .......  153 

The  Pragmatic  Sanction 154  -"^ 

Cession  of  Lorraine 156" 

Conditions  of  Peace 15^ 


Yl  CONTENTS. 

Treaty  of  Vienna 158 

Results  of  the  War  . 160 

Administration  of  Stanislaus  in  Lorraine      ....  161 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession. 

1740-1742. 

Death  of  Charles  VI 164 

Condition  of  Europe 165 

Frederick  II.  resolves  on  War 168 

Claims  on  Silesia 169 

Capture  of  Silesia 172 

Negotiations  of  Frederick 174 

Position  of  France 176 

Results  of  the  War 177 

Arguments  for  War 179 

Claims  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria 181 

Conduct  of  Fleury 183 

Character  of  Belle  Isle 184 

France  decides  to  interfere 186 

Embassy  of  Belle  Isle 188 

Negotiations  with  the  Electors 190 

Battle  of  MoUwitz    ' 191 

The  Elector  of  Bavaria 193 

He  invades  Upper  Austria 195 

Character  of  Maria  Theresa 197 

Endeavors  to  make  Peace  with  France         ....  198 

Armistice  made  with  Frederick 199 

Conduct  of  Frederick 200 

Capture  of  Prague 201 

Charles  Albert  declared  King  of  Bohemia   ....  203 
Frederick  violates  the  Armistice 204 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Emperor  Charles  VII. 

1742-1745. 

Election  of  Charles  VII.  as  Emperor  .....  206 
His  Coronation « - '     .        .      209 


CONTENTS.  vii 

Weakness  of  the  Empire 212 

Capture  of  Linz 213 

Invasion  of  Bavaria 215 

Ill-snccess  of  Frederick 217 

He  endeavors  to  make  Peace 218 

Treaty  of  Breslau 221 

Frederick's  Satisfaction  over  the  Peace        ....  222 

Consternation  among  the  French 224 

Fleury  endeavors  to  obtain  Peace 225 

War  in  Bohemia 227 

Bad  Condition  of  the  Army 229 

Belle  Isle's  Retreat  from  Prague 230 

Death  of  Cardinal  Fleury 233 

His  Character 235 

The  Administi-ation  after  Fleury 237 

Indifference  of  the  King  .         .         .         .         .         .         .       238 

Character  of  the  Ministers 239 

The  Duchess  of  Chateauroux 241 

Progress  of  the  War 244 

Maria  Theresa  will  not  make  Peace  ....      245 

Misfortunes  of  Charles  VII 246 

Abandonm&nt  of  Bavaria 249 

Battle  of  Dettingen      ........  251 

Condition  of  France  .......      254 

Louis  XV.  decides  to  take  the  Field 255 

Pretensions  of  Spain 257 

War  in  Italy 258 

Treaty  of  Worms 260 

Treaty  of  Fontainebleau 261 

Character  of  the  Spanish  Administration  ....      263 
French  Sacrifices  for  Spain 265 


CHAPTER   VII. 

Renewal  of  the  War  by  Frederick. 

1744-1746. 

Frederick  decides  to  renew  the  War         ....      267 

His  Negotiations  with  France 269 

His  Relations  with  Mme.  de  Chateauroux        .         .         .      270 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Treaties  between  France  and  Prussia 272 

Charles  Edward  comes  to  France 273 

Preparations  for  an  Invasion  of  England      ....  274 

Their  Failure .275 

Invasion  of  the  Netherlands 276 

Success  of  the  French 278 

Mme.  de  Chateauroux  visits  the  Army         ....  279 

Invasion  of  Lorraine 281 

Illness  of  Louis  XV.  at  Metz 282 

Dismissal  of  Mme.  de  Chateauroux 284 

Queen  visits  Metz         ........  285 

Rejoicings  over  Louis's  Recovery 286 

The  Austrians  cross  the  Rhine 288 

Frederick  takes  up  Arms 290 

He  invades  Bohemia 291 

Austrians  retreat  from  Lorraine 292 

Hi-success  of  Frederick 293 

Mme.  de  Chateauroux  restored  to  Favor  ....       296 

Popular  Indignation  at  this 297 

Death  of  Mme.  de  Chateauroux 299 

Death  of  Charles  VII 300 

Injudicious  Policy  of  the  French       .         .         .         .     *   .      301 

Character  of  Argenson 304 

His  Appointment  as  Minister  .         .         .         .         .         .       306 

His  Policy 307 

Policy  of  Frederick 308 

Views  of  Podewils 310 

Disputes  between  the  Allies 311 

XUareer  of  Maurice  de  Saxe 312 

Commands  the  Army  in  the  Netherlands  .         .         .      315 

Battle  of  Fontenoy 316 

Victory  of  the  French 322 

Victory  of  Frederick  at  Hohenfriedberg      ....  324 

Complaints  of  Frederick 325 

Peace  between  England  and  Prussia 327 

Election  of  the  Emperor  Francis  1 328 

Battle  of  Sohr      ,' 329 

Maria  Theresa  endeavors  to  make  Peace  with  France  331 

Opposition  of  Argenson 333 

Failure  of  the  Negotiations 334 

Frederick  makes  Peace  with  Austria 335 


CONTENTS.  1* 

Results  of  the  War  for  him 337 

Progress  of  the  War  in  Italy 338 

Conduct  of  the  Spanish 339 

Failure  of  Argensou's  Diplomacy 340 

Death  of  PhiUp  V 342 

Character  of  Ferdinand  VI 343 

Character  of  the  Infante 314 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Close  of  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession. 

1745-1748. 

Early  Life  of  Mme.  de  Pompadour 346 

Becomes  the  Favorite  of  the  King 349 

Campaign  in  the  Netherlands 351 

Honors  paid  Maurice  de  Saxe v  353 

French  Success  in  the  Netherlands 355 

Battle  of  Roucouz 357 

Condition  of  Austria 359 

Bad  Condition  of  French  Marine 360 

English  Success  on  the  Sea 361 

Conference  in  Breda 362 

Negotiations  for  Peace 363 

Conference  at  Aix-la-Chapelle 365 

Advance  of  the  Russian  Army 366 

Negotiations  at  Aix-la-Chapelle 367 

Desires  of  Maria  Theresa 369 

Views  of  Frederick 371 

Suggestions  of  Kaunitz 372 

Terms  agreed  upon 373 

Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle 375 

Arrest  of  the  Pretender 376 

Results  of  the  War 377 


ac  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

DUPLEIX. 

1742-1754. 

French  Colonial  Development 379 

Organization  of  the  French  East  India  Company  .         .  381 

Organization  of  a  New  Company 383 

Early  Career  of  Dupleix  .         .         .  *      ,         .         ,  384 

Prosperity  of  Chandarnagar     .         ...         .         .         .       386 

Dupleix  made  Governor-General 386 

His  Eastern  Policy 387 

Fortification  of  Pondicherri 388 

Arrival  of  La  Bourdonnais 390 

Capture  of  Madras       .         .         .     • 391 

Quarrel  with  La  Bourdonnais 392 

War  with  the  Nawab  of  the  Camatic 394 

Victory  of  the  French 396 

Influence  of  France  in  India 397 

Repulse  of  the  English  at  Pondicherri      ....       398 

Surrender  of  Madras 399 

Death  of  the  Subahdar  of  the  Dekkan      ....       400 

Dupleix  supports  Mozuffer  Jung 401 

Capture  of  Girgee 403 

Success  of  Mozuffer 404 

Honors  bestowed  on  Dupleix 406 

French  Influence  supreme  in  the  Dekkan    ....  407 

Conduct  of  Bussy 409 

His  Influence  over  Salabut 410 

Character  of  Bussy 411 

Further  Cessions  to  France 413 

The  English  assist  Mahomet  Ali 414 

Capture  of  Arcot  by  Clive 416 

French  Defeat  at  Trichinopoly 417 

Efforts  of  Dupleix 418 

Receives  no  Support  in  France 420 

Views  of  the  French  East  India  Company   ....  421 

Indifference  of  the  Public 423 

Negotiations  with  the  English 425 

Disgrace  of  Dupleix 426 

His  Subsequent  Vicissitudes  and  Poverty    ....  428 
His  Death 429 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Loss  of  an  Eastern  Empire. 
1754H760. 

Arrival  of  Godehue 431 

Peace  with  England 432 

Lally  ToUendal  appointed  Commander  in  India  .         .        .  433 

His  Character 434 

Arrives  in  India 436 

Captures  Fort  St.  David 437 

Abandons  the  Dekkan 438 

Lack  of  Resources  in  India 440 

Defeated  at  Madras 441 

Disliked  in  India 443 

Desertion  of  the  French  Fleet 445 

Defeat  of  Wandewash 447 

Surrender  of  Pondicherri 448 

End  of  the  French  East  India  Company  ....  449 
Trial  and  Execution  of  Lally 451 

CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Reign  of  Mme.  de  Pompadour. 

1745-1764. 

Position  of  Mme.  de  Pompadour 454 

Her  Theatre         .........  455 

Her  Talent  as  an  Actress  ......       457 

Her  Taste  in  Art 458 

Use  of  Paint 459 

Chateaux  of  Mme.  de  Pompadour 461 

Pare  aux  Cerfs 462 

Her  Influence  on  the  Ministry 464 

Her  Political  Failure 465 

Condition  of  France  after  the  War 467 

Efforts  to  tax  the  Privileged  Classes  ....  468 
Exemption  of  the  Church  from  Taxation  ....  470 
Influence  of  the  Church  in  France    .....      472 


XII  CONTENTS. 

Decline  in  Religious  Character 473 

Condition  of  the  Lower  Clergy 474 

Social  Position  of  the  Higher  Clergy 476 

Their  Revenues 477 

Their  Modes  of  Life 478 

Character  of  the  Abb^  Count  of  Clermont        .        .         .      482 

Small  Amounts  given  in  Charity 483 

Endeavor  to  tax  the  Clergy 484 

Failure  of  the  Endeavor 485 

Quarrels  over  the  Unigenitos 486 

Action  of  the  Parliament 487 

Conduct  of  the  Government 489 

Birth  of  Louis  XVI 490 

Punishment  of  Vicars 491 

Influence  of  Literature 492 

Voltaire  befriended  by  Mme.  de  Pompadour    .        .        .      493 
Death  of  Maurice  de  Saze •       .  405 


PRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   CONDITION    OF  FRANCE. 

At  the  close  of  the  regency  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans 
the  old  regime  in  France  was  still  in  full  vigor :  the 
government  of  the  country,  the  general  social  and  in- 
tellectual condition  of  the  people,  were  such  as  they 
long  had  been.  Fifty-one  years  later,  Louis  XV. 
ended  his  inglorious  reign ;  the  old  regime  was  then 
on  the  verge  of  dissolution,  the  beliefs  and  hopes  of 
the  French  people  had  suffered  more  change  than 
in  the  century  preceding,  the  economical  condition 
of  the  country  had  been  greatly  modified ;  a  new  lit- 
erature had  arisen,  new  ideas  were  found  in  books, 
were  discussed  in  the  salons,  and  were  debated  on 
the  streets ;  the  demand  was  widespread  for  new 
social  conditions,  for  laws  which  should  improve  the 
lot  of  the  poor,  and  should  allow  to  all  a  greater 
freedom  of  thought  and  action.  In  this  altered 
society  the  government  stiU  preserved  the  same  out- 
ward form,  but  it  needed  no  prophet  to  discern  that 
institutions,  which  seemed  as  firmly  rooted  as  those 
of  the  Medes  and  Persians  when  Louis  XIV.  was 
proclaimed  the  Great,  were  nearing  their  end  when 
Louis  XV.  lay  on  his  death-bed.     The  French  Rev- 


2  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

olution,  like  the  other  great  events  of  history,  sprang 
from  no  accident  or  sudden  caprice,  —  a  political  rev- 
olution followed  an  intellectual  revolution. 

Before  relating  the  events  of  the  half  century,  so 
important  in  their  effect  on  the  French  mind,  it  is 
well  to  consider  the  condition  of  France  and  her 
people  when  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  left 
the  youthful  Louis  XV.  the  ruler  of  that  kingdom. 
The  government  of  France  was  an  unlimited  mon- 
archy. "  In  my  person  alone  is  the  sovereign  author- 
ity," wrote  Louis  XV.  in  1766 ;  "  legislative  power 
belongs  to  me  alone ;  public  order  emanates  from  me ; 
I  am  its  supreme  guardian."  It  was  the  same  lan- 
guage that  Louis  XIV.  had  used  a  century  before, 
and  both  of  those  monarchs  correctly  stated  the  theory 
of  the  government  of  which  they  were  the  head.  New 
taxes  could  be  imposed  by  the  king  and  by  him  alone  ; 
he  could  make  peace  and  declare  war ;  he  could  pro- 
nounce new  laws  and  disregard  old  laws  ;  his  authority 
was  unchecked  and  unshared. 

Such  a  form  of  administration  would  seem  an  abso- 
lute tyranny,  as  despotic  as  that  of  the  Czar  of  Russia 
or  the  Sidtan  of  Morocco ;  but  despotism  in  a  highly 
civilized  state  necessarily  differs  from  despotism  among 
barbarous  tribes  or  in  rude  forms  of  society.  The 
actual  operation  of  the  governing  power,  whatever 
may  be  its  nominal  form,  depends  upon  the  people 
over  which  it  is  exercised.  The  king  of  France,  by 
his  own  action  and  moved  solely  by  his  own  desire, 
could  levy  a  tax  of  fifty  per  cent,  upon  the  income  of 
his  subjects ;  he  could  compel  its  registration  by  the 
courts  of  law,  and  his  officers  could  legaUy  proceed 
with  its  collection ;  he  could  order  the  arrest  of  any 
person,  and  no  court  had  the  right  to  review  his  action 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  8 

or  to  release  the  prisoner ;  the  man  might  remain  ii* 
confinement  for  forty  years,  with  no  legal  means  of 
establishing  his  innocence  or  of  obtaining  his  liberty ; 
the  king  could  begin  unjust  wars,  bestow  undeserved 
pensions,  squander  the  proceeds  of  taxation  on  his 
mistresses,  and  it  is  impossible  to  see  where  there 
was  redress  for  any  grievance,  except  in  the  right  of 
revolution. 

On  the  other  hand,  while  the  royal  authority  was 
legally  unrestrained,  while  it  was  liable  to  abuse  and 
was  often  abused,  practically  there  were  many  things 
which  the  king  could  not  do.  If  he  ordered  a  man 
without  trial  to  be  taken  to  the  Greve  and  beheaded, 
those  who  obeyed  his  bidding  would  have  been  liable 
to  no  punishment.  But  he  never  gave  such  a  com- 
mand ;  it  would  have  been  so  contrary  to  the  recog- 
nized jurisdiction  of  the  courts,  to  the  ancient  usages 
of  the  kingdom,  that  such  an  act  could  properly  be 
said  to  be  beyond  his  power.  Innimierable  privi- 
leges and  local  rights  remained  from  the  past,  or  were 
founded  upon  bargains  made  between  the  ruler  and 
the  ruled.  Exemptions  from  many  forms  of  taxation 
had  been  granted  to  cities,  to  corporations,  and  to 
classes;  often  the  king  failed  to  observe  the  agree- 
ments made  by  his  predecessors  or  by  himself,  but 
usually  these  were  respected.  The  church  appealed  to 
its  divine  origin  for  protection  against  the  temporal 
power ;  the  nobility  jwssessed  privileges,  coming  down 
from  the  feudal  period,  which,  though  often  injurious 
to  the  community,  operated  as  a  restraint  upon  the  un- 
bridled authority  of  the  king.  The  courts  of  justice, 
though  they  jjossessed  no  effective  veto  upon  his  acts, 
asserted  their  right  of  remonstrance,  and  while  often 
forbidden,  this  continued  to  be  exercised.     In  a  coun- 


4  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

try  where  there  was  no  right  of  petition,  where  politi- 
cal criticism  was  unlawful,  and  a  reflection  on  the 
wisdom  of  the  rulers  constituted  a  crime,  the  remon- 
strances of  the  judges  still  furnished  an  opportunity 
for  discussing  the  action  of  the  government,  without 
running  the  risk  of  a  sojourn  in  the  Bastille.  Thus 
the  French  monarchy  might  be  declared  to  be  abso- 
lute, and  yet,  with  equal  truth,  it  might  be  said  to  be 
limited,  if  not  by  law,  by  customs,  by  privileges,  by 
traditions,  which  the  king  had  the  power  to  disregard, 
but  which  he  was  sure  to  respect. 

A  just  idea  cannot  be  formed  of  the  character  of 
the  French  monarchy,  nor  of  the  probability  of  the 
king  exercising  wisely  his  great  authority,  without 
considering  his  modes  of  life,  his  social  surroundings, 
the  barriers  of  etiquette  in  which  he  was  inclosed,  the 
artificial  panoply  in  which  he  was  encased.  Ver- 
sailles, in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  wit- 
nessed an  existence,  splendid  indeed,  but  the  formality 
of  which  had  stiffened  into  rigidity  not  unlike  that  of 
the  courts  of  ancient  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  kings ; 
if  its  etiquette  was  not  so  benumbing  as  the  sombre 
state  of  Madrid,  yet  it  did  not  help  a  monarch  to 
understand  the  needs  of  his  people,  nor  to  perform 
the  duties  of  his  office. 

There  was,  perhaps,  no  other  person  in  the  world 
who  was  so  constantly  kept  in  sight,  whose  e^^ery  act 
was  attended  with  such  publicity,  as  the  French  king. 
From  his  rising  in  the  morning  to  his  retiring  at 
night,  he  was  surrounded  by  a  host  of  attendant? ;  he 
dressed  and  dined  in  public ;  in  health  and  sickness, 
during  his  devotions  and  on  his  death-bed,  he  had 
about  him  the  same  multitude  of  courtiers.  As  it 
was  their  business  to  be  smiling  and  respectful,  so  it 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  o 

was  his  business  to  be  smiling  and  affable,  and  neither 
king  nor  courtier  had  much  time  left  for  anything 
else. 

Who  should  dress  and  undress  him,  serve  him  at 
his  table,  hand  him  his  cane,  offer  him  his  gloves, 
pray  for  his  welfare,  pronounce  upon  him  heaven's 
blessing,  was  regulated  with  an  anxious  care.  The 
disputes  over  such  questions  have  been  preserved  for 
us ;  unimportant  in  themselves,  they  are  curious  as 
illustrations  of  the  customs  and  modes  of  thought  of 
the  time.  "  There  has  been  a  dispute  lately,"  writes 
the  Duke  of  Luynes,  "because  the  officers  of  the 
buttery  pretended  to  the  right  to  serve  the  dauphin, 
when  he  wished  to  drink,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
under  governor ;  but  it  was  decided  they  were  wrong 
in  their  pretension."  ^  Not  only  did  nobles  contend 
as  to  who  should  hand  a  glass  of  water  to  a  child  of 
seven,  but  the  clergy  wrangled  as  to  the  privilege  of 
pronouncing  grace  before  the  king.  Rather  than 
waive  any  right,  occasionally  all  of  the  holy  men 
would  be  saying  prayers  at  the  same  time.^  Thus 
perhaps  the  Lord  was  the  better  served. 

Those  who  were  received  at  court  there  spent  their 
lives ;  they  listened  to  the  sayings  and  watched  the 
countenance  of  the  sovereign ;  the  opportunity  for  a 
word  with  him  was  a  sufficient  reward  for  hours  of 
waiting.  It  was  not  strange  that  this  should  be  so. 
From  the  favor  of  one  man  came  rank,  dignity,  and 
wealth ;  the  ambition  of  the  statesman  for  office,  the 
zeal  of  the  soldier  for  promotion,  the  desire  for  social 
prominence,  the  thirst  for  money,  could  all  be  satis- 
fied by  the  monarch.  "■  lie  wlio  considers,"  says  La 
Bruycre,  "  that  the  face  of  the  monarch  causes  the 
^  Mcmoires  de  Luynes,  i.  125.  ^  Ih.,  i.  400. 


6  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

felicity  of  the  courtier,  whose  life  is  occupied  with 
the  desire  of  seeing  him  and  being  seen  by  him,  may 
understand  how  the  sight  of  God  sujB&ces  for  the  glory 
and  the  bliss  of  the  saints." 

The  French  sovereign  was  constantly  attended  by 
a  great  number  of  nobles  and  of  humbler  followers  ; 
the  pomp  of  his  court  has  rarely  been  equaled  and 
never  excelled.  All  the  day  long  an  unbroken  stream 
of  carriages  rolled  between  Versailles  and  Paris. 
Large  as  were  the  halls  of  the  palace,  they  could 
not  always  contain  the  throngs  that  wished  to  enter. 
Almost  every  member  of  this  midtitude  was  a  pictur- 
esque object  to  the  eye ;  the  dresses  of  the  gentlemen 
were  as  rich,  as  varied  in  their  material  and  coloring, 
as  those  of  the  ladies ;  they  were  as  well  furnished  with 
laces  and  ruffles ;  the  gorgeous  decorations  of  many 
orders  were  resplendent  on  the  men ;  a  profusion  of 
jewels  set  off  the  beauty  of  the  women ;  courtesy 
and  grace  were  not  often  wanting  in  an  assemblage 
where  almost  all  were  of  gentle  birth  and  studied  the 
art  of  pleasing  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave. 

A  spectator  has  described  the  appearance  of  the 
court  on  one  evening,  and  the  scenes  which  could 
there  be  witnessed  on  all  evenings  were  much  the 
same.  The  great  gallery  at  Versailles  was  lighted  by 
three  thousand  wax  candles,  and  the  spectacle  of  tlie 
vast  hall  brilliantly  illuminated  and  filled  with  well- 
dressed  people  was  dazzling.  There  were  elegant 
toilettes,  and  many  distinguished  foreigners  were  in 
attendance ;  one  hundred  and  forty-two  ladies  were 
counted  in  the  assemblage,  and  the  number  of  men 
was  much  larger.  In  the  centre  of  the  gallery  the 
king  played  lansquenet ;  the  Duke  of  Luxembourg 
had  the  honor  of  standing  behind  the  king's  chair; 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  7 

around  the  table  were  Mme.  de  Pompadour,  the 
dauphin  and  his  wife,  Louis's  daughters,  who  were 
still  young  girls,  and  a  great  number  of  persons,  all 
distinguished  in  rank,  though  not  all  equally  eminent 
in  morality.  At  the  further  end  of  the  room  the 
queen  had  her  gambling-table,  at  which  cavagnole 
was  played,  and  a  number  of  other  tables  were  scat- 
tered about,  one  presided  over  by  the  Princess  of 
Conti,  and  the  others  by  persons  of  less  distinction. 
Everybody  gambled,  and  sometimes,  as  was  said,  even 
at  the  court  there  were  some  who  cheated ;  the  queen 
was  fond  of  play  and  she  often  lost ;  gambling-debts 
were  among  her  many  embarrassments.  On  this 
evening  she  stopped  about  ten,  at  which  time  supper 
was  served,  but  it  was  not  until  half-past  ten  that 
Louis  took  his  place  at  the  lansquenet-table ;  at  half- 
past  eleven  he  and  the  queen  retired,  but  the  game 
went  on. 

In  this  great  palace,  to  which  so  many  had  access, 
it  was  hard  to  keep  out  intruders;  barriers  were 
placed  to  shut  off  access  from  the  salon  of  Hercules 
and  the  salle  des  gardes,  but  still,  besides  the  well 
dressed  who  were  there,  others  not  so  well  dressed  and 
without  right  of  entrance  could  be  seen  in  the  assem- 
blage. Some  came  for  curiosity,  others  were  attracted 
by  the  opportunities  for  theft  that  were  furnished  at 
such  a  place ;  several  tobacco-boxes  were  stolen,  and 
the  officers  in  the  hall  made  two  or  three  arrests. 

If  it  was  difficult  to  exclude  pickpockets  from  the 
palace,  it  was  impossible  to  keep  out  the  wind  and 
cold.  On  this  evening  there  was  a  good  deal  of  wind, 
and  some  of  the  candles  were  blown  out.  The  cold 
was  still  more  annoying  ;  at  the  table  where  the  king 
played,  by  reason  of  the  crowd  gathered  around,  the 


8  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

wind  did  not  trouble  them,  but  in  some  parts  of  the 
gallery  it  was  bitterly  cold.^  Thus  splendor  and  dis- 
comfort and  crime  were  all  to  be  foimd  together  in 
the  halls  of  Versailles. 

The  most  commonplace  remark  of  the  king  was 
caught  up  and  repeated  by  the  courtiers  as  if  it  were 
an  utterance  of  inspired  wisdom.  One  day  the  con- 
versation turned  on  some  pecidiar  funeral  practices. 
"His  majesty  did  me  the  honor  to  say,"  writes  the 
Duke  of  Luynes,  "  '  We  are  not  subjected  to  such 
ceremonies.'  I  felt  bound  to  reply  that  only  his 
majesty  could  think  of  such  an  event  in  his  own  case ; 
we  could  never  even  consider  its  possibility.  '  Why 
not,'  said  the  king,  'must  not  this  happen?'  One 
cannot,"  adds  the  enthusiastic  duke,  moved  by  Louis's 
admission  that  even  he  must  die,  — "  one  cannot  be 
too  much  impressed  by  all  the  marks  of  piety  and 
goodness  in  the  king."  When  Thackeray  writes  in 
the  ballad  of  "  King  Canute :  "  — 

" '  He  to  die  ? '  resumed  the  Bishop.    '  He  a  mortal  like  to  lu  f 
Death  was  not  for  him  intended,  though  communis  omnibus,^ " 

we  think  this  the  sarcasm  of  the  satirist,  but  many 
a  polished  French  courtier  addressed  Louis  XV.  in 
language  which  differed  little  from  that  of  the  bishop 
of  King  Canute. 

The  number  of  officials  who  surrounded  the  mon- 
arch was  very  large  ;  he  could  not  go  from  Versailles 
to  Marly,  from  the  Louvre  to  La  Muette,  unless  he 
was  accompanied  by  a  body  of  attendants  almost  as 
numerous  as  the  Greek  army  at  Thermopylse.  On 
the  king's  journey  to  Chantilly,  says  the  chronicler, 
there  went  with  him  over  two  hundred  servants  em- 

^  This  account  is  given  by  the  Duke  of  Luynes  in  his  memoirs 
t»  1751. 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  9 

ployed  in  the  kitchen,  besides  sixty  Swiss,  whose  busi- 
ness was  to  assist  in  serving ;  in  all  there  were  seven 
hundred  persons  to  feed.^  The  pomp  of  a  royal 
progress  was  not  unworthy  of  the  dignity  of  the 
monarch ;  trumpets  sounded  loudly  to  announce  his 
presence ;  he  was  attended  by  bodies  of  gentlemen, 
proud  to  serve  as  soldiers  of  the  king,  and  by  com- 
panies of  Swiss  guards,  curiousl}"^  and  richly  dressed, 
and  armed  with  weapons  more  gorgeous  than  useful, 
und  he  journeyed  over  the  country  with  an  amount  of 
noise,  dust,  and  display  which  could  not  have  been 
exceeded  by  a  state  procession  of  an  Assyrian  or  an 
Egyptian  sovereign.  It  is  not  strange  that  a  visit  to 
Fontainebleau  cost  at  least  a  million  livres.^  The 
number  of  persons  invested  with  some  office  or  charge 
in  connection  with  each  member  of  the  royal  family 
was  exceeded  only  by  the  retinue  of  the  king.  More 
than  a  hundred  persons  were  required  for  the  care  of 
the  dauphin  when  he  was  a  child  of  seven.^  When 
Marie  Leszczynski  became  the  wife  of  Louis  XV., 
over  four  hundred  offices  were  at  once  created,  to  be 
filled  by  those  devoted  to  her  service,  from  ladies  of 
honor  to  postilions  and  pastry  cooks.* 

The  description  of  a  single  ceremonial  will  show  the 
minute  punctilio  of  this  stately  and  formal  existence. 
When  the  Princess  of  Lichtenstein,  the  wife  of  the 
Austrian  ambassador,  was  presented  to  the  queen,  the 
lady  of  honor  met  her  at  the  door,  and  under  her 
escort  the  princess  slowly  advanced  towards  the  queen, 

*  Mem.  de  Luynes,  ii.  446. 

2  Ih.,  xvii.  38.  3  /5_^  I  62.        -     ' 

*  Dispacci  Veneziani,  213,  514,  MSS.  Bib.  Nat.  The  list  of 
places  occupies  fourteen  pages  of  the  ambassador's  correspond- 


10  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

making  three  reverences  as  she  went,  after  the  last  of 
which  she  paid  her  compliment  to  the  queen.  "  In 
England,"  says  our  informant,  "  the  queen  salutes  the 
wives  of  the  ambassadors,  but  it  is  well  known  that 
this  is  not  the  usage  here."  In  the  mean  time,  the 
king  having  entered,  every  one  arose.  He  kissed  tlie 
princess  on  the  cheek,  and  then  she  began  her  retreat, 
constantly  bowing  as  she  went,  the  lady  of  honor 
always  at  her  right  hand,  and  her  face  turned  towards 
the  queen,  until  at  last  the  door  was  once  more 
reached.  Each  detail  was  carefully  watched,  as  its 
importance  demanded.  When  the  Turkish  ambas- 
sador was  presented,  says  the  duke,  our  chronicler, 
and  made  his  various  reverences,  "  the  king  took  off 
his  hat  either  two  or  three  times,  but  I  could  not  see 
well  enough  to  say  which  with  certainty."  ^ 

There  were  members  of  the  court  who  were  not 
satisfied  even  with  this  exact  and  rigorous  etiquette ; 
then,  as  now,  there  were  those  who  regretted  the  better 
manners  of  the  past.  "  There  is  a  usage  which  seems 
to  be  forgotten,"  says  the  Duke  of  Luynes ;  "  formerly 
the  servant  of  the  king  or  queen,  when  entering  or 
leaving  the  room,  made  a  profound  inclination,  car- 
rying the  hand  almost  to  the  ground ;  but  now  I  see 
reverences  made  to  the  queen  which  are  no  more  re- 
spectful than  one  would  make  to  a  prime  minister."  * 

The  ceremonial  by  which  the  king  of  France  was 
surrounded  would  not  perhaps  have  smothered  a 
powerful  intellect,  but  it  had  a  benumbing  influence 
on  a  man  of  ordinary  parts.  So  much  time  was  re- 
quired for  entrees  and  levies,  for  presentations  and 
salutations,  that  little  remained  for  the  work  of  gov- 

'  Mem.  de  Luynes,  i.  376,  iv.  75. 
«  lb.,  u.  290. 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  11 

eming  a  great  state.  It  is  certain  that  Napoleon 
could  not  have  displayed  his  unwearied  activity  if  he 
had  been  tied  down  by  such  an  unceasing  routine  of 
ceremony.  In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
at  the  beginning  of  an  intellectual  revolution,  on  the 
verge  of  a  social  revolution,  this  life  of  solemn  empti- 
ness still  continued,  and  benumbed  the  intelligence  of 
the  king  and  of  his  courtiers. 

Far  different  from  the  Eastern  grandeur  of  the 
court  of  Louis  XV.  were  the  surroundings  of  his  great 
rival,  Frederick  of  Prussia.  "  If  you  want  to  know," 
writes  Voltaire  of  Frederick,  "  the  ceremonies  of  the 
levee,  what  are  the  grandes  and  the  petites  entrees^ 
what  are  the  functions  of  the  grand  chamberlain,  the 
grand  almoner,  the  first  gentleman  of  the  chamber, 
I  will  answer  that  a  lackey  comes  to  light  the  king's 
fire  and  shave  him,  that  he  dresses  himself,  and  he 
sleeps  in  a  trundle-bed  concealed  by  a  screen.  Mar- 
cus Aurelius  was  not  more  poorly  lodged."  ^ 

"  If  I  were  king  of  France,"  said  Frederick,  "  my 
first  edict  would  be  to  appoint  another  king,  who 
should  hold  court  in  my  place." 

Louis  XV.  was  not  a  man  who  sought  relief  from 
ceremony  and  adulation  in  any  useful  work;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  this  dull  grandeur  was  not  dear  to 
his  heart ;  he  did  not  derive  from  it  the  majestic  sat- 
isfaction which  it  furnished  to  his  predecessor.  From 
youth  to  age  the  king  was  bored ;  he  wearied  of  his 
throne,  his  court,  and  of  himself ;  he  was  indifferent  to 
all  things,  and  unconcerned  as  to  the  weal  or  the  woe  of 
his  people  or  of  any  living  person.  In  his  cold 
contempt  of  all  mankind  Louis  resembled  Frederick 
of  Prussia,  and,  excepting  the  chase,  there  was  nothing 
*  Voltaire,  CEuv.  Com.,  xl.  69. 


12  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

in  which  he  took  an  active  interest.  His  life  was 
licentious,  he  had  many  mistresses,  but  for  none  of 
them  did  he  entertain  any  strong  affection.  Mme. 
de  Pompadour  amused  him  and  he  allowed  her  to 
rule  and  ruin  France  as  a  reward,  but  he  had  for  her 
only  a  sensual  and  sluggish  attachment ;  her  dominion 
over  him  was  based  on  habit,  rather  than  on  passion. 
At  Versailles  there  was  an  opera  on  Wednesday,  a 
concert  on  Saturday,  the  comedy  on  Tuesday  and  Fri- 
day, and  gaming  on  Sunday,  as  well  as  on  most  other 
days,  but  the  king  had  little  taste  for  any  of  these 
things ;  he  was  indifferent  to  spectacles ;  even  gam- 
bling did  not  excite  him.^  He  did,  however,  find  a 
lifelong  pleasure  in  killing  either  bird  or  beast.  The 
history  of  his  private  life  is  largely  the  record  of  his 
shooting.  On  one  day  we  are  told  he  killed  250  head 
of  game ;  on  another  he  killed  100  in  less  than  two 
hours,  firing  153  times.^  Guns  were  less  accurate 
then  than  now,  and  this  was  a  good  record.  In  thirty 
years  he  is  said  to  have  killed  6,400  stags,  and  the 
number  of  pheasants  which  he  bagged  is  beyond  cal- 
culation. The  hunting-grounds  of  the  French  kings 
were  enlarged  during  his  reign ;  the  regulations  for 
the  preservation  of  the  royal  game  were  made  more 
severe  and  onerous. 

Respect  and  affection  for  the  sovereign  were  deep 
seated  among  the  French  people ;  these  feelings  had 
lost  none  of  their  force  at  the  beginning  of  Louis 
XV.'s  reign,  and  though  they  abated  somewhat  before 
his  death,  yet  the  cries  of  Vive  le  roi,  which  always 
greeted  the  monarch's  appearance,  and  which  we  are 
told  by  an  inmate  of  Versailles  could  be  heard  about 
the  palace  almost  all  the  day  long,  were  sincere  marks 

*  Mem.  de  Luynes,  i.  168.  *  Jb.,  passim. 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  13 

of  popular  attachment.^  The  strong  affection  for  the 
sovereign  which  existed  among  the  people  sometimes 
became  adulation  in  those  attached  to  the  person  of 
the  king.  Even  the  priest,  whose  duty  it  was  to  tell 
the  monarch  of  the  precepts  of  religion  and  of  his 
obligations  to  the  King  of  kings,  was  expected  to  in- 
dulge in  an  outpouring  of  fulsome  praise.  This  was 
called  the  compliment  and  was  a  recognized  part  of 
the  discourse,  the  absence  of  which  would  have  been 
at  once  noticed.  It  was  a  requirement  which  a  loyal 
clergy  never  neglected.  To  take  a  single  illustration, 
on  Easter  Day,  1742,  the  preacher  said  in  his  compli- 
ment to  the  king,  "  The  Lord  has  rendered  your  ma- 
jesty the  support  of  kingdoms  and  empires,  the  subject 
of  universal  admiration,  the  beloved  of  his  people,  the 
delight  of  the  court,  the  terror  of  his  enemies  ;  yet 
all  this  will  but  raise  your  great  soul  above  what  is 
perishable  and  lead  you  to  embrace  virtue  and  to 
aspire  to  eternal  beatitude."  ^  This  compliment  of 
Father  Tainturin,  with  much  more  in  the  same  strain, 
was,  we  are  informed,  greatly  approved,  and  to  such 
praise  from  the  pulpit  did  Louis  listen  all  his  life.  As 
he  reflected  on  his  personal  immorality  and  his  politi- 
cal insignificance,  and  he  was  quite  intelligent  enough 
to  realize  both,  he  may  well  have  pondered  upon  the 
weight  to  be  attached  to  the  words  of  the  clergy. 

Naturally  the  splendor  of  the  monarchy  had  to  be 
paid  for,  and  the  bill  was  large.  During  the  eighteenth 
century  the  condition  of  the  national  finances  grew 
steadily  worse,  deficits  became  more  alarming,  bank- 
ruptcy was  imminent,  until  the  desperate  condition  of 
the  treasury  compelled  the  calling  of  the  States  Gen- 

^  Mem.  de  Mine,  de  Campan,  i.  89. 
2  Mem.  de  Luynes,  iv.  117. 


14  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

eral.  Had  Louis  XV.  and  Louis  XVI.  been  able  to 
make  the  ends  meet,  the  overthrow  of  the  old  regime 
would  not  have  been  averted,  but  it  would  have  been 
delayed. 

What  may  properly  be  called  the  expenses  of  the 
monarch,  the  cost  of  the  court,  of  palaces,  of  royal 
pleasure,  royal  pomp,  and  royal  lust,  were  not  the 
largest  items  in  the  expenditure  of  the  French  gov- 
ernment, but  they  were  very  great,  and  a  rigorous 
economy  in  them  would  have  helped  in  restoring  the 
balance  between  income  and  outgo.  No  reduction 
was  attempted  under  Louis  XV.,  and  such  an  effort 
would  have  been  highly  distasteful  to  him.  Of  all 
those  who  had  the  ear  of  the  king,  there  was  hardly 
one  who  was  not  personally  interested  in  leaving 
things  as  they  were,  to  whom  the  thought  of  change 
was  not  distasteful  and  the  idea  of  retrenchment  ab- 
horrent. The  system  of  court  life  which  had  been 
fostered  by  Louis  XIV.  furnished  pleasure  and  ad- 
vantage to  thousands  of  people,  and  the  recipients  of 
royal  bounty  wore  cheerful  faces,  which  would  have 
been  saddened  by  projects  of  reform.  The  innumer- 
able offices,  the  inordinate  expenses  of  the  court,  pro- 
vided employment  and  gains,  more  or  less  legitimate, 
to  almost  every  one  with  whom  the  king  associated. 
The  resistance  of  those  who  profited  by  a  lavish  ex- 
penditure proved  too  strong  even  for  the  laudable 
efforts  of  Louis  XVI.,  stimulated  by  the  sagacity  and 
the  resolution  of  Turgot,  and  Louis  XV.  was  of  all 
men  the  one  to  whom  the  role  of  a  reformer  would 
have  been  most  distasteful. 

Besides  the  great  sums  paid  for  pensions,  the  amount 
spent  on  the  court  and  the  royal  family  was  not  far 
from  twenty  million  livres  at  the  beginning  of  this 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  15 

reign,  and  twice  as  much  at  the  close,  and  this  sum 
we  must  multiply  two  or  three  fold  to  represent  equiv- 
alent values  at  the  present.^  The  table  of  Louis  XV. 
and  of  his  children  cost  almost  four  million  livres 
yearly,  ten  times  the  amount  disbursed  by  a  thrifty 
monarch  like  Frederick  11.^  In  every  department 
the  expense  was  swollen  by  fraud  and  shiftlessness. ' 
"  What  do  you  think  this  carriage  cost  me  ? "  said 
Louis  XV.  to  the  Duke  of  Choiseiil.  "  I  could  buy 
one  like  it  for  six  thousand  livres,"  replied  the  duke, 
"but  to  your  majesty,  paying  as  a  king,  it  should 
cost  eight  thousand."  ^  "  You  are  far  from  right," 
said  the  king,  "  for  it  cost  me  thirty  thousand."  On 
no  less  a  scale  peculation  flourished  in  every  branch 
of  the  government ;  inefficiency  and  dishonesty  went 
hand  in  hand ;  an  attempt  to  check  these  evils  would 
have  been  regarded  as  both  chimerical  and  cruel. 

The  perquisites  which  were  enjoyed  by  those  con- 
nected with  the  court  were  often  curious  in  their  char- 
acter, and  were  usually  satisfactory  in  their  amount. 
Of  many  offices  the  duties  were  nominal  and  the  legal 
compensation  was  slight,  but  by  recognized  usage  the 
fortunate  holders  of  those  positions  appropriated  a 
liberal  share  of  the  waste  of  the  court.  The  ladies  of 
the  queen's  chamber  were  nominally  paid  one  hvindred 
and  fifty  livres  a  year,  but  they  sold  for  their  own  use 
the  candles  which  had  once  been  lighted.  This  item, 
which  woidd  seem  insignificant,  yielded  to  them  the 
very  pretty  sum  of  five  thousand  francs  a  year.     So 

^  These  figures  are  obtained  approxiinatoly  from  tlie  statistics 
given  in  Yovhoni\a.\s,  Recherches  sur  les  Jinances.  Necker's  Compte 
rendu,  Maison  du  roi. 

^  A  Fronclinian  in  Rorliii  in  1752,  Voltaire,  Man. pour  servir. 

8  Man.  dt  Bezenval,  ii.  2tXJ. 


16  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

great  were  the  profits  made  on  wax  candles  that  a 
large  number  of  officials  participated  in  them ;  the 
candles  unconsumed  when  the  comedy  was  ended 
went  to  the  garde-meuhle,  while  various  persons 
shared  in  the  sale  of  those  that  remained  when  the 
king  had  finished  his  meals.  We  may  be  sure  that 
the  persons  interested  in  such  gains  saw  that  the 
greatest  possible  number  of  candles  were  lighted,  and 
that  they  were  not  allowed  to  bum  too  long.  Every 
three  years  the  linens  and  the  laces  of  the  queen 
were  renewed  in  order  that  the  lady  of  honor  and 
the  royal  nurse  might  sell  the  supply  on  hand.  When 
the  dauphine  died  Mme.  Brancas  at  once  asserted 
her  rights  to  all  that  pertained  to  her  toilette,  which 
brought  no  less  than  fifty  thousand  crowns ;  another 
lady's  profits  on  her  wardrobe  were  eighty-two  thou- 
sand livres,  and  in  all  the  perquisites  of  various  mem- 
bers of  the  court  on  the  dauphine's  death  can  safely 
be  reckoned  at  over  a  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  first  gentleman  of  the  chamber  supplied  the 
king  with  powder  and  pomade,  and  reaped  great 
gains  from  his  monopoly.  The  grand  equerry  had 
the  job  of  furnishing  the  Swiss  guards  with  their  uni- 
forms, and  his  profits  were  larger  than  those  of  the 
most  fashionable  tailor. 

In  modem  days  of  vulgar  democracy  such  practices 
would  be  called  plain  stealing,  but  they  were  recog- 
nized by  usage,  and  similar  abuses  could  be  found  in 
every  branch  of  the  French  administration.  It  was 
a  gigantic  system  of  wastefidness  in  which  all  profited, 
and  which  no  one  sought  to  check.  Even  the  captain 
of  the  hunt  at  Fontainebleau  ma<le  no  less  tlian  twenty 
thousand  francs  a  year  by  selling  rabbits ;  whatever 
amounts  were  realized  by  the  sale  of  the  king's  prop 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  17 

erty,  it  was  rarely  that  any  of  the  proceeds  were  allowed 
to  find  their  way  into  the  king's  exchequer.^  Indeed, 
these  innumerable  perquisites  were  bestowed  by  a  be- 
nevolent monarch  on  courtiers  who  looked  to  him  for 
support,  in  the  same  way  that  a  gentleman  gives  his 
valet  the  old  clothes  which  he  would  blush  to  sell. 

The  form  of  administration  which  had  been  per- 
fected under  Louis  XIV.  continued  with  little  change 
until  the  Revolution.  The  chief  authority  was  in  the 
hands  of  secretaries  of  state,  to  each  of  whom  was 
assigned  an  amount  of  work  which  required  for  its 
performance  the  greatest  industry  and  the  highest 
ability.  The  choice  of  the  ministers  was  determined 
by  the  intrigues  of  the  court  and  the  caprice  of  the 
monarch,  and,  as  a  result,  few  men  of  capacity  fille4 
these  positions  during  the  eighteenth  century.  While 
Fleury  was  prime  minister  he  exercised  a  certain 
supervision  over  his  associates,  but  after  his  death 
unity  of  purpose  was  rarely  found  among  the  advisers 
of  the  king.  As  a  rule,  each  secretary  was  jealous  of 
his  companions  ;  his  chief  anxiety  was  lest  any  of  them 
should  obtain  in  large  degree  the  confidence  and  favor 
of  the  sovereign.  The  man  fortunate  enough  to  be 
chosen  as  secretary  was  admitted  to  the  intimacy  of 
-  the  king,  he  could  enrich  himself  and  his  friends,  he 
was  the  object  of  envy  to  his  fellows ;  dismissal  from 
office  was  the  manifest  mark  of  royal  disapproval,  a 
disgrace  which  few  had  sufficient  philosophy  to  bear 
with  equanimity.  The  minister  was  in  little  danger 
of  overthrow  from  any  public  disfavor ;  whether  he 
was  loved  or  hated  by  his  fellow  citizens  was  not 
likely  in  any  way  to  affect  his  tenure  of  office.     But 

^  Mem.  de  Luynes,  ii.  369  ;  iii.  300  ;  vii.  383  et  pas. ;  Taine, 
L'Ancien  Regime,  87. 


18  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

he  was  exposed  to  dangers  of  a  different  nature :  the 
complaints  of  those  who  had  the  opportunity  of  wliis- 
pering  their  discontent  to  the  monarch  when  he  was 
putting  on  his  shirt  or  taking  off  his  boots ;  the  insinu- 
ations of  his  companions  at  the  supper-table ;  most 
dangerous  of  all  the  ill  will  of  her  who,  for  the  time 
being,  possessed  the  royal  affections,  might  any  day 
bring  the  dreaded  order  to  turn  over  the  seals  of  office 
and  retire  to  his  chateau  in  the  provinces.  Naturally, 
therefore,  the  secretary  sought  to  make  friends  of 
members  of  the  court,  to  advise  no  measure  which 
would  interfere  with  their  privileges,  to  oppose  no 
act  of  benevolence  which  they  might  request  from  the 
king.  Still  more  was  it  for  his  interest  to  enjoy  the 
favor  of  the  mistress,  to  assist  her  in  every  demand 
for  money  or  rank,  to  consult  her  in  the  distribution 
of  patronage,  to  ask  her  advice  as  to  the  policy  of  the 
state.  The  shameful  influence  exerted  by  the  mis- 
tresses of  Louis  XV.  in  the  government  of  France  is 
the  chief  scandal  of  his  reign,  and  had  much  to  do  with 
undermining  the  monarchical  traditions  of  the  French 
people.  Men  were  made  ministers  of  state  because 
they  could  turn  off  a  neat  rhyme  on  the  favorite's 
charms,  and  men  were  dismissed  from  office  because 
they  dared  to  oppose  her  wishes. 
\/  So  firmly  was  the  power  of  such  women  established 
under  Louis  XV.  that  it  seemed  an  integral  part  of 
the  system  of  government ;  in  nations  where  this  was 
not  found,  courtiers  recognized  a  defect  in  the  consti- 
tution. The  yomig  Count  of  Gisors,  son  of  Mar- 
shal Belle  Isle,  visited  England  in  1754.  It  was 
not  strange  that  he  should  have  thought  St.  James 
hideous  and  the  English  court  small  and  sombre  when 
compared  with  that  of  Versailles,  but  another  differ- 


y 


THE   CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  19 

ence  attracted  his  attention  as  he  considered  the  rela- 
tive positions  of  Mme.  de  Pompadour  and  the  Countess 
of  Yarmouth.  "  In  every  other  monarchy,"  he  writes, 
"  the  mistress  of  the  king  shares  his  power ;  here  she 
only  shares  his  impotence."  ^ 

Even  though  no  woman's  whim  interfered,  Louis  i^ 
was  prone  to  make  a  capricious  choice  of  his  servants. 
His  indolent  and  selfish  nature  was  affected  by  trifles ; 
though  he  was  indifferent  to  the  abilities  of  his  minis- 
ters, he  was  critical  as  to  their  manners :  he  never  re- 
called Chauvelin  to  his  councils  because  his  jokes, 
his  familiarity,  and  his  loud  laughter  were  distasteful ; 
he  dismissed  Amelot,  the  secretary  for  foreign  affairs, 
because  he  could  not  endure  his  perpetual  stuttering.^ 

The  administration  in  France  was  highly  central-  v^ 
ized,  and  to  superintendents  was  assigned  the  duty  of 
regulating  the  affairs  of  the  provinces  in  accordance 
with  the  principles  adopted  at  Versailles.  The  exten- 
sive power  vested  in  these  officers  has  been  an  object 
of  denunciation  from  Richelieu's  day  to  ours,  but  as  a 
whole  it  was  probably  in  furtherance  of  good  govern- 
ment. Certainly  the  power  exercised  by  them  was 
very  large.  "  The  kingdom  of  France,"  said  Law,  "  is 
governed  by  thirty  superintendents,  and  on  them  de-- — 
pends  the  misery  or  happiness  of  the  provinces,  their 
abundance  or  their  sterility."  Hardly  an  object  of 
human  interest  was  without  their  jurisdiction ;  the 
administration  of  justice,  the  finances  of  the  city,  the 
highways  of  the  town,  the  apportionment  of  taxation, 
the  dispersion  of  Huguenot  assemblies,  alike  required 
the  attention  of  the  all-pervading  superintendent.   His 

1  Journal  of  Count  of  Gisors,  February- April,  1754  ;  cited  by 
RotisRftt,  Vie  da  Cnmfe  de  Oisors. 
^  Mem.  d'Argenson,  ix.  58,  C4. 


20  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

action  could  be  overruled  by  the  authorities  at  Ver- 
sailles, but  little  of  this  mass  of  detail  found  its  way 
to  the  notice  of  a  secretary  whose  mind  was  too  closely 
fixed  on  the  court  to  give  much  thought  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  provinces. 

Power  as  extensive  as  this  was  often  abused ;  there 
were  superintendents  who  were  bigoted  and  inefficient 
and  corrupt ;  but,  on  the  whole,  their  work  seems  to 
have  been  as  well  done  as  was  possible  with  any  sys- 
tem that  was  then  practicable.  Many  of  the  duties 
imposed  upon  them  might  wisely  have  been  intrusted 
to  local  bodies,  but  in  the  political  condition  of  France 
at  that  period  an  intelligent  and  effective  system  of 
local  government  was  impossible,  unless  accompanied 
by  a  degree  of  political  freedom  which  would  at  once 
have  put  an  end  to  the  old  regime.  The  superintend- 
ents were  always  active  and  usually  intelligent,  and 
the  extensive  power  vested  in  officials  who  were  them- 
selves dependent  on  the  central  government  helped  to 
unify  the  French  people. 

The  administrations  of  such  men  as  Aguesseau  in 
Languedoc  and  Turgot  at  Limoges  were  long  remenv\ 
bered  for  the  benefits  they  wrought  in  the  districts^ 
under  their  charge. 

The  influence  of  the  city  governments  and  of  other 
local  bodies  was  not  sufficiently  important  to  require 
any  detailed  notice.  By  various  means  they  had  been 
de])rived  of  any  independent  power :  the  appointment 
of  officials  was  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  king ;  their 
duties  were  nominal;  the  people  had  little  voice  in 
their  selection,  and  little  concern  as  to  their  conduct. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  was 
no  other  section  of  the  world  where  the  theory  of  local 
government  was  so  admirably  developed  as  in  New 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  21 

England ;  there  was  no  civilized  country  in  which  it 
was  more  torpid  and  unimportant  than  in  the  greater 
portion  of  France,  and  this  fact  alone  will  go  far  to 
account  for  the  differences  between  the  revolutions 
of  1776  and  1789.^  In  Languedoc,  Brittany,  and  a 
few  other  districts,  the  ancient  provincial  states  had 
escaped  annihilation,  but  their  power  to  regulate  the 
amount  contributed  to  the  general  government  by 
those  they  represented,  which  had  once  been  impor- 
tant, was  now  hardly  more  than  a  registration  of  the 
royal  will.  The  provincial  states,  like  the  governors 
of  the  provinces,  had  the  form  of  power,  but  not  the 
reality.  They  might  have  furnished  a  nucleus  for  the 
development  of  legislative  bodies,  somewhat  akin  to 
the  legislatures  of  the  American  States,  but  the  tend- 
ency of  political  change  in  France  was  not  in  that 
direction ;  in  the  discussions  of  the  eighteenth  century 
there  was  little  demand  for  any  local  subdivision  of 
political  action;  the  most  ardent  republican  of  the 
Convention  was  as  eager  an  advocate  of  centralization 
as  Richelieu  or  Louis  XIY. ;  the  provincial  states, 
which  were  feeble  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  passed  out  of  existence  at  the  close  of  it. 

During  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  the  only  check  upon 
the  authority  of  the  king  was  found,  not  in  any  repre- 
sentative assemblage  which  could  assert  a  right  based 
on  past  tradition  or  on  present  expediency,  but  in  the 
judicial  bodies  whose  claim  to  exercise  legislative 
action  had  little  foundation  in  the  past  and  was  of 
little  value  in  the  present.     The  nobility  of  the  robe 

^  For  a  somewhat  fuller  statement  of  the  condition  of  the 
local  bodies  in  France  under  Louis  XIV.,  which  was  little 
changed  under  Louis  XV.,  I  would  refer  to  France  under  the 
Regency,  p.  304  et  seg. 


22  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

enjoyed  privileges  hardly  inferior  to  those  of  the  no- 
bility of  the  sword ;  it  was  no  better  fitted  to  render 
important  political  service  to  the  state.  It  is  not 
strange,  therefore,  that  the  constant  quarrels  between 

^  the  Parliament  of  Paris  and  Louis  XV.  served  no 
useful  purpose.  A  royal  edict,  in  order  to  be  enforced, 
had  to  be  registered  with  the  courts,  but  if  this  regis- 
tration was  refused,  the  king  in  his  own  person  could 
hold  a  bed  of  justice  and  compel  it.  It  is  manifest, 
therefore,  that  though  the  parliament  might  remon- 
^strate  with  the  sovereign,  it  could  not  control  his 
action ;  it  could  delay  the  registration  of  an  edict,  but 
it  could  not  prevent  it.  Nor  from  the  constitution  of 
the  body  was  it  possible  that  it  should  ever  become  a 
fit  organ  for  the  expression  of  the  popular  will.  We 
shall  have  occasion  to  relate  frequent  contests  between 
the  king  and  the  courts  during  the  reign  of  Louis 
XV.  The  cause  espoused  by  the  judges  was  usually 
popular  with  the  people.  But  when  later  in  the  cen- 
tury there  came  a  demand  for  popular  institutions, 
and  the  overthrow  of  the  privileges  which  formed  so 
large  a  part  of  the  old  regime,  it  is  not  strange  that 
the  judges  were  soon  arrayed  in  opposition  to  changes 
which  would  be  fatal  to  their  own  position  in  the  com- 
munity. The  growth  of  the  French  parliaments  is 
interesting  as  a  chapter  in  legal  history,  but  it  is  not 
important  as  a  part  of  the  constitutional  history  of  the 
French  kingdom. 

In  considering  the  condition  of  France  at  the  be- 
ginning of  Louis  XV.'s  reign  it  is  proper  to  give  spe- 
cial attention  to  the  position  of  the  nobility,  for  politi- 
cally as  well  as  socially  its  influence  was  far  greater 
than  that  of  either  the  church  or  the  third  estate. 

^    The  French  nobility  was  a  large  body ;  new  mem* 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  23 

bers  were  constantly  added,  and  its  limits  were  vaguely 
defined ;  it  is  difficult,  therefore,  to  say  with  accuracy 
in  what  measure  the  administration  of  the  country 
remained  in  its  hands.  It  was  the  policy  of  Louis 
XIV.  to  restrict  the  influence  of  the  great  nobles, 
whose  families  traced  their  origin  far  back  in  French 
history,  and  whose  ancestors  had  once  ruled  prov- 
inces almost  as  independent  sovereigns.  Secretaries 
of  state  were  more  often  chosen  from  officials  con- 
nected with  the  parliament,  or  from  superintendents 
who  had  shown  ability,  than  from  nobles  who  bore 
names  like  those  of  Conde,  or  Rohan,  or  Bouillon.  In 
this,  as  in  every  tradition  of  government,  Louis  XV. 
sought  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  ancestor. 
There  were  no  families  in  France  during  the  eighteenth 
century  exercising  a  political  influence  to  be  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  Bedfords,  or  the  Pelhams,  or 
the  Newcastles  in  England.  But  illustrious  houses 
like  the  Condes  or  the  Bouillons  formed  a  small  part 
of  the  French  aristocracy.  The  parliamentary  fam- 
ilies should  not  be  regarded  as  part  of  the  third 
estate  ;  they  were  not  improperly  called  the  nobility  of 
the  robe,  inferior  indeed  to  that  of  the  sword,  but 
still  identified  in  interest  with  the  aristocracy,  rather 
than  with  the  commonalty  of  France.  Men  who  had 
sprung  from  modest  origins,  but  had  obtained  the 
prizes  of  the  state,  became  founders  of  new  families, 
equal  in  wealth  and  in  rank  to  those  of  more  ancient 
lineage ;  the  descendants  of  Colbert  and  Fouquet  and 
Louvois  mingled  on  no  very  unequal  terms  with  the 
descendants  of  nobles  who  had  conquered  at  Bouvines, 
or  been  defeated  at  Agincourt.  Admitted  into  a  priv- 
ileged body,  enjoying  the  rank,  the  titles,  the  immu- 
nities of  an  aristocracy,  naturally  they  espoused  its 


24  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

interests  and  shared  its  prejudices.  Centuries  are  not 
required  to  instill  into  the  blood  a  lively  conception  of 
the  difference  between  nobleman  and  commoner.  The 
father  of  the  famous  Duke  of  St.  Simon  was  a  poor 
country  gentleman  elevated  to  the  peerage  by  the 
caprice  of  his  master,  but  his  son  could  have  been  no 
more  deeply  imbued  with  aristocratic  prejudices  if  he 
had  traced  his  rank  to  Hugh  Capet  instead  of  to  Louis 
XIII. 

We  can  justly  say  that  the  administration  of  France 
under  Louis  XV.  was  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  aris- 
tocracy, and  certainly  the  traditions  of  that  body  had 
a  controlling  influence  on  the  policy  of  the  country. 
Even  though  a  secretary  of  state  might  belong  to  a 
parliamentary  family,  or  came  from  still  humbler  stock, 
the  courtiers,  the  officers  of  the  army,  those  attached 
to  the  person  of  the  king,  belonged  with  few  excep- 
tions to  the  order  of  the  nobility. 

At  this  period  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  persons 
formed  the  second  estate,  as  the  nobility  was  officially 
called  ;  they  were  but  one  per  cent,  of  the  population 
of  France,  but  they  received  a  larger  amount  of  con- 
sideration from  the  government  and  from  the  world 
than  the  other  ninety-nine  parts.  To  most  readers  of 
French  history  its  interest  still  centres  in  the  vision  of 
a  magnificent  monarch,  attended  by  dukes  and  mar- 
quises, resplendent  in  powdered  hair,  embroidered 
coats,  and  jeweled  swords,  and  by  ladies  who  were 
always  charming,  often  beautiful,  and  sometimes  vir- 
tuous. It  is  not  a  complete  and  a  philosophical  con- 
ception of  the  history  of  a  great  people,  but  it  would 
be  idle  to  disregard  the  importance  of  the  court  life 
under  the  old  regime. 

There  was,  however,  a  large  class  of  the  nobility 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  25 

who  were  not  found  among  the  gorgeous  butterflies 
that  adorned  Versailles ;  gentlemen  who  could  show 
the  quarterings  necessary  for  entrance  to  any  noble 
order,  but  who  knew  as  little  of  Paris  as  many  an 
English  squire  knew  of  London.  These  country 
gentry  for  the  most  part  were  reduced  in  fortune,  and 
exercised  a  small  influence  in  their  districts.  The 
want  of  money,  the  lack  of  some  powerful  friend  who 
could  procure  for  them  a  position  at  court,  were  gen- 
erally the  causes  which  kept  them  at  home.  Trade 
was  forbidden,  the  practical  qualities  by  which  estates 
are  made  more  valuable  were  not  common  among 
them,  and  the  fortunes  of  many  gentle  families  stead- 
ily decreased.  Each  son  inherited  the  privileges  and 
the  traditions  of  his  order,  but  his  material  inherit- 
ance was  often  sadly  inadequate  for  the  support  of  a 
gentleman,  who  could  find  no  way  of  bettering  his 
fortunes  without  derogating  from  his  rank.  He  be- 
came "  the  high  and  mighty  seigneur  of  a  dovecot,  a 
frog-pond,  and  a  warren."  A  superintendent  tells  us 
that  in  his  district,  out  of  thousands  of  gentle  birth, 
there  were  not  thirteen  who  had  incomes  of  twenty 
thousand  francs.  Scorning  any  occupation  but  the 
chase,  they  blushed  to  work  and  died  of  hunger.^ 

Thus  reduced  in  fortune,  they  led  a  cramj)ed  and 
useless  existence.  The  French  gentlemen  as  a  class 
took  little  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  community ;  few 
of  them  bore  any  resemblance  to  the  country  gentry 
who  exerted  so  great  and  so  beneficial  an  influence  in 
England.  They  were  indeed  less  apt  to  get  fuddled 
drinking  with  the  farmers  at  the  tavern,  but  neither 
had  they  any  taste  for  the  useful  work  of  the  Quarter 
Sessions,  nor  that  active  and  hearty  cooperation  in 
^  Rdtif  de  la  Bretonne,  La  vie  de  mon  pere,  i.  146. 


26  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

matters  of  local  interest  which  make  the  squire  the 
chief  figure,  and  usually  a  popular  figure,  in  every 
English  hamlet. 

The  gentlemen  who  were  debarred  from  the  bril- 
liant existence  of  the  court  cherished  in  no  less  degree 
the  pride  of  their  order.  The  duke  who  stood  by  the 
king  at  his  dinner  and  was  admitted  into  his  bed- 
chamber was  no  more  tenacious  of  the  deference  due 
his  rank  than  the  country  gentleman  who  lived  in  a 
dilapidated  chateau  on  poorer  fare  than  many  a  skilled 
mechanic,  and  who  wandered  over  his  scanty  acres 
with  a  hungry  dog  at  his  heels  and  a  rusty  sword  at 
his  side.  Voltaire  was  made  a  gentleman  of  the 
king's  chamber,  and  the  Chevalier  de  I'Huilliere  ex- 
pressed the  sentiments  of  his  class  when  he  wrote,  "  I 
am  informed  that  the  king  has  bestowed  the  office  of 
gentleman  of  his  chamber  upon  one  Arouet,  known  as 
Voltaire.  The  king  will  not  affront  the  nobility  by 
releasing  this  fellow  from  furnishing  proofs  of  his 
gentle  birth,  which  he  could  only  find  on  his  mother's 
side,  for  on  his  father's  he  is  a  roturier.  To  do 
this  would  dishonor  gentlemen  of  name,  who  have 
been  noble  from  father  to  son  from  time  immemo- 
rial." ^  The  orthography  and  the  grammar  of  this 
letter  are  lamentable,  and  those  who  were  outraged 
that  an  office  should  be  bestowed  on  one  who  could 
not  show  his  sixteen  quarterings  were  often  as  igno- 
rant as  they  were  proud.  Even  in  1789,  in  the 
cahiers  prepared  for  the  States  General,  we  find  nu- 
merous requests  from  country  gentlemen  for  some 
mark  —  a  cross  or  a  ribbon  —  which  should  proclaim 
to  the  world  that  its  wearers  were  of  noble   birth.* 

1  Fillon,  Lettres  inedites  de  la  Vendee,  116,  7. 
*  Taine,  L'Ancien  Regime,  48. 


THE   CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  27 

Undoubtedly  there  were  exceptions  ;  there  were  nobles, 
like  the  father  of  the  great  Mirabeau,  who  were  in  no 
way  connected  with  the  court,  and  whose  careers  were 
active  and  useful.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Revolu- 
tion the  peasants  of  the  Vendee  remained  constant  to 
the  principles  espoused  by  the  upper  classes,  and  their 
devotion  proves  that  in  this  district  the  gentlemen 
still  retained  their  position  as  leaders  of  the  commu- 
nity. Such  cases  were  exceptional ;  as  a  rule,  the  pro- 
vincial nobility  were  encased  in  a  stupid  pride,  which 
kept  them  aloof  from  their  neighbors  of  less  degree ; 
they  showed  no  capacity  for  useful  work  or  for  any 
work ;  they  possessed  no  hold  over  a  community  which 
they  neither  guided  nor  aided.^ 

If  the  life  of  some  gentleman  whom  scanty  fortune 
condemned  to  vegetate  in  the  provinces  was  barren  and 
dull,  it  was  far  otherwise  with  the  great  nobles.  To 
an  uncommon  degree  they  had  within  their  reach  the 
objects  of  human  desire ;  they  possessed  rank  and 
wealth ;  they  were  free  from  the  cares  and  necessities 
which  cramp  the  existence  of  most ;  they  received 
great  benefits  from  the  state,  and  were  exempt  from 
most  of  its  burdens.  Few  lots  would  seem  more  envi- 
able than  that  of  the  head  of  a  great  French  family 
during  the  eighteenth  century,  living  in  a  country 
which  attracted  the  attention  and  excited  the  admira- 
tion of  all  Europe,  forming  part  of  a  magnificent 
court,  where  the  splendor  of  the  king  and  the  great- 
ness of  the  country  furnished  innumerable  opportu- 
nities for  the  acquisition  of  dignity  and  power  and 
wealth. 

^  "  Les  seigneurs,"  said  the  Marquis  of  Mirabeau,  speaking  of 
the  rest  of  the  population,  "  ne  leur  sont  plus  bons  k  rien  ;  il  est 
tout  simple  qu'ils  en  soient  oublids  comme  ils  les  oublient." 


28  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Such  an  aristocracy  naturally  dazzled  and  delighted 
all  beholders.  The  training  of  its  members  from  child- 
hood fitted  them  for  intercoui-se  with  their  fellows; 
they  had  tact  and  polish  and  good  breeding.  A  lad 
of  twelve  could  turn  a  neat  compliment  to  a  guest ;  a 
girl  was  drilled  each  hour  of  the  day  in  the  minutiaB 
of  etiquette.  "  Be  careful  not  to  disturb  your  rouge, 
and  not  to  tear  your  robe,  and  not  to  disarrange  your 
headdress,  and  then  amuse  yourself,"  said  a  mother 
to  a  young  girl  going  to  a  children's  party.^  They 
were  drilled  for  a  life  of  social  display ;  the  marquis 
of  ten,  in  powdered  hair  and  with  a  sword  at  his  side, 
walked  with  as  much  dignity  as  the  duke  his  father ; 
his  sister  of  twelve  was  versed  in  the  use  of  the  rougre- 
pot,  and  submitted  herself  to  the  arts  of  the  hair- 
dresser with  as  resigned  a  grace  as  the  duchess  her 
mother.  If  a  nobleman  often  grew  up  knowing  very 
little  else,  at  least  he  was  taught  good  manners,  and 
for  the  career  before  him  this  was  by  far  the  most 
usefid  accomplislunent  which  he  coidd  acquire. 

The  social  life  of  the  nobility  and  the  changes 
which  the  century  produced  will  be  discussed  later.  It 
is  rather  as  a  political  element  in  the  body  politic  that 
they  will  here  be  considered,  and  we  are  first  impressed 
by  the  amount  which  they  cost  the  state.  Alike  the 
feudal  dues  which  remained  as  a  relic  of  the  feudal 
power  vested  in  the  nobility  of  a  former  age,  and  the 
heavy  burden  which  their  successors  imposed  upon 
the  national  treasury,  increased  the  weight  of  taxa- 
tion, and  were  a  serious  check  upon  the  prosperity  of 
the  larger  portion  of  the  community. 

Life  at  Versailles  was  costly,  even  though  the  king 
defrayed  many  of  the  expenses  of  those  whom  he 
*  Cited  by  Goucourt,  Lafemme  au  18'  Steele. 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  29 

regarded  as  his  guests.  The  establishments  of  the 
great  nobles  were  on  a  colossal  scale,  the  servants  were 
numerous,  the  cost  of  entertainment  was  large,  and 
necessary  expenses  were  swollen  by  shiftlessness.  As 
a  result,  the  nobility  as  a  body  were  involved  in  debt ; 
even  though  the  revenues  from  their  estates  were 
swollen  by  pensions  and  emoluments  received  from 
the  king,  a  large  proportion  were  in  a  chronic  state 
of  insolvency.  The  Duke  of  St.  Simon  had  an  in- 
come of  almost  eighteen  hundred  thousand  livres,  yet 
his  creditors  had  to  be  content  with  fifty  cents  on  a 
dollar  of  their  claims ;  Marshal  Estrees  left  two  mil- 
lion livres  of  debts ;  at  twenty-six  the  Duke  of  Lauzun 
was  already  two  millions  in  debt ;  M.  de  Chenonceaux 
lost  seven  hundred  thousand  francs  at  play  in  a  single 
night.  The  Duke  of  Bourbon  had  an  income  of  two 
million  livres,  and  owed  six  millions  when  he  died.^ 
The  country  gentlemen  were  embarrassed  because 
their  receipts  were  so  small,  and  the  great  nobles  were 
bankrupt  because  their  expenditures  were  so  large. 

Barely  did  a  nobleman  give  any  attention  to  im- 
proving the  value  of  his  property,  and  to  engage  in 
business  enterprises  was  unknown.  Arthur  Young 
said  he  could  generally  distinguish  the  estates  of 
great  nobles  by  their  bad  condition.  "  Whenever  you 
stumble  on  a  grand  seigneur  you  are  sure  to  find  his 
property  a  desert."  "  I  will  wager,"  said  a  stranger, 
"  that  this  inclosure  belongs  to  the  seigneur."  "  It 
does,"  replied  the  peasant.  "  I  thought  so,"  continued 
the  traveler,  "  when  I  saw  it  was  covered  with  briers 
and  thorns."  ^  The  dilapidation  of  fortunes  was  some- 
tijues  repaired  by  marriages  with  the  daughters  of 

*  Mem.  de  Luynes,  iii.  123  ;  iv.  445  et  pas. 
3  Mirabeau,  Traite  de  la  population,  i.  42. 


80  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

bankers  or  government  contractors,  but  such  alliances 
were  not  as  common  as  they  are  now,  and  the  tend- 
ency of  an  extravagant  class  was  to  become  an  em- 
barrassed class.  Yet  whatever  was  the  condition  of 
the  hereditary  estates,  though  rents  were  falling  and 
mortgages  were  growing,  a  man  of  the  world,  as  has 
been  truly  said,  expected  that  there  should  be  money 
in  his  pocket,  a  fine  coat  in  his  dressing-room,  pow- 
dered valets  in  his  antechamber,  a  gilded  carriage 
standing  at  his  door,  and  a  choice  dinner  served  upon 
his  table.^  In  certain  directions  he  was  willing  to 
disquiet  himself  in  order  to  obtain  the  means  for  such 
an  outlay,  but  the  only  source  of  supply  to  which  he 
could  resort  was  the  liberality  of  the  king  and  the 
treasury  of  the  nation. 

If  a  nobleman  was  in  favor  at  court  and  was  in 
financial  distress,  —  and  the  two  things  frequently  went 
together,  —  it  was  to  the  king  that  he  turned  for  relief, 
nor  was  the  prayer  for  aid  often  refused.  The  Prince 
of  Conti  was  given  a  million  and  a  half  livres  to  pay 
his  debts  ;  the  Countess  of  Polignac  had  four  hundred 
thousand  for  the  same  purpose,  and  the  list  of  similar 
benefactions  would  be  endless. 

If  assistance  was  not  granted  directly  from  the 
treasury,  it  was  often  furnished  by  expedients  for 
which  the  public  at  last  had  to  pay.  As  the  Prince 
of  Carignan  was  in  straits,  he  was  allowed  to  keep  a 
gambling-house  in  Paris,  with  the  profits  of  which  he 
might  repair  the  waste  of  his  fortune. 

The  Duke  of  Luynes  teUs  us  of  the  efforts  of  a 

person  who  wished  to  share  in  the  profits  made  from 

the  farm  of  taxes.     At  first  he  promised  M.  de  la 

Tr^moille  fifty  thousand   crowns   to  secure  him  the 

*  Taine,  L'Ancien  Regime,  165. 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  31 

position,  but  for  some  reason  this  negotiation  fell 
through.  At  last  he  was  promised  the  place  upon  con- 
dition of  paying  forty  thousand  crowns,  with  wliich 
to  discharge  a  gambling-debt  of  the  Duke  of  Kiche- 
lieu.^  It  was  necessary  that  the  profits  to  be  derived 
from  the  position  should  be  sufficient  to  defray  the 
bribes  required  to  obtain  it,  and  so  they  were.  Each 
one  of  the  associates  connected  with  the  farms  received 
annually  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
livres,  and  in  addition  the  gains  of  the  association 
during  one  term  of  nine  years  were  figured  at  fifty-four 
millions.^ 

The  demands  of  the  nobility  for  pecuniary  aid  were 
regarded  as  well  founded ;  alike  privileges  and  pen- 
sions and  exemptions  from  taxation  were  based  upon 
a  claim  of  right,  upon  services  rendered  in  the  past 
for  the  support  and  defense  of  the  monarchy,  and 
which  were  supposed  still  to  be  rendered  in  the  pres- 
ent. In  the  service  of  the  king  the  members  of  tlie 
second  estate,  it  was  said,  were  ready  to  shed  their 
blood ;  in  times  of  peace  they  were  his  counselors, 
and  in  the  advice  of  noblemen  possessing  the  advan- 
tage of  leisure,  and  raised  above  need,  a  wisdom  and 
disinterestedness  could  be  found  not  to  be  expected 
from  those  born  to  a  humbler  lot.  It  was  just,  there- 
fore, that  offices  of  profit  and  responsibility  should  be 
intrusted  to  those  who  were  entitled  to  their  gains  and 
fitted  for  their  duties.  Such  was  the  theory  of  the 
advantages  of  an  aristocracy  as  a  governing  class,  and 
it  is  necessary  to  study  the  history  of  France  in  the 
eighteenth  century  to  see  how  far  this  conception  was 
justified. 

The  embarrassed  condition  of  tlic  national  finances 

^  Mem.  de  Luynes,  ii.  61.  ^  Ih.,  x.  166. 


82  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

which  was  chronic  under  Louis  XV.  was  not  alto- 
gether due  to  excessive  expenditure.  Certainly  there 
was  great  opportunity  for  retrenchment,  yet  the  ex- 
penses of  the  government  under  the  old  regime  were 
not  greater  than  the  country  was  able  to  bear ;  it  is 
doubtful  whether  the  monarchical  establishment  was 
any  more  costly  than  the  democratic  institutions  by 
which  it  has  been  succeeded.  Wars  were  more  fre- 
quent in  the  last  century  than  in  this,  but  while  they 
lasted  longer  they  cost  less,  and  the  expense  of  the 
army  in  times  of  peace  was  small  in  comparison  witli 
the  sums  now  expended  by  most  European  nations. 
Twenty  million  livres  a  year  would  perhaps  represent 
the  sums  annually  paid  in  pensions  to  the  aristocracy. 
In  addition  to  this  there  were  the  excessive  amounts 
allowed  to  the  holders  of  many  offices ;  the  Governor 
of  Languedoc  had  a  salary  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  livres,  the  Governor  of  Burgundy  received 
one  hundred  thousand,  the  position  of  grand  master 
was  worth  as  much ;  the  list  of  lucrative  offices  was 
a  long  one.  The  amount  spent  upon  the  royal  family 
was  a  yet  more  serious  item.  Aside  from  the  civil  list 
proper,  the  expenses  of  the  monarch  himself,  were  the 
increasing  sums  expended  upon  members  of  his  family. 
While  Louis  XV.'s  daughters  were  still  little  more 
than  children,  it  was  said  that  each  of  them  cost  the 
state  a  million  annually,  and  a  few  years  later  the 
two  brothers  of  Louis  XVI.  succeeded  in  squandering 
every  year  eight  millions  of  the  public  moneys. 

Such  extravagance  can  justly  be  condemned,  yet  it 
is  equaled  by  the  salaries  of  an  excessive  number  of 
minor  officials  in  the  present  French  government,  and 
it  is  far  exceeded  by  the  pension  list  of  the  United 
States.     It  may,  indeed,  be  said  that  the  sums  thus 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  33 

expended  in  our  own  day  benefit  large  numbers, 
while  those  paid  out  under  the  old  regime  profited 
only  a  small  class ;  yet  considered  as  a  burden  upon 
the  national  wealth,  it  is  questionable  if  the  cost  of 
government  absorbed  any  larger  proportion  of  the 
resources  of  the  governed. 

It  was  not  the  amount  taken  by  taxation  so  much 
as  the  apportionment  of  taxation  which  rendered  its 
burden  almost  unbearable.  If  the  condition  of  the 
lower  classes  was  bad,  and  the  finances  of  the  govern- 
ment were  involved,  the  explanation  is  to  be  found 
chiefly  in  the  exemptions  granted  the  privileged 
classes.  The  number  of  those  who  profited  by  such 
abuses  was  constantly  increasing,  and  thus  a  larger 
proportion  of  the  national  wealth  was  withdrawn  from 
its  just  burden  of  taxation.  A  courtier  of  Louis  XIV. 
said  that  whenever  his  majesty  created  an  office,  the 
Lord  created  a  fool  who  would  purchase  it.  The 
purchaser  was  by  no  means  a  fool;  the  salaries  al- 
lowed the  holders  of  the  countless  useless  offices  cre- 
ated at  this  period  usually  amounted  to  at  least  a 
reasonable  interest  on  the  sum  paid  for  the  place, 
and  the  other  advantages  which  resulted  were  often 
far  more  valuable  than  the  yearly  stipend  received 
from  the  treasury.  There  were  thousands  of  posi- 
tions which  secured  to  their  holders  a  large  degree  of 
exemption  from  the  burdens  of  taxation.  The  posi- 
tion of  some  petty  civic  official  or  of  some  useless 
court  functionary  might  not  seem  specially  enviable, 
but  if  it  conferred  upon  him  the  rank  of  nobility,  and 
thereby  secured  relief  from  the  ordinary  burdens  of 
the  state,  the  advantage  to  the  incumbent  was  large, 
and  in  every  case  it  was  pui-chased  at  the  expense  of 
other  taxpayers. 


34  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

The  nobility  were  by  no  means  exempt  from  all 
forms  of  taxation,  but  where  the  law  did  not  spare 
them  altogether  their  social  position  secured  a  large 
degree  of  immvmity.  The  Duke  of  Orleans  said  he 
saved  three  hundred  thousand  livres  every  year  be- 
cause the  taxing  officers  grossly  imderestimated  his 
property;  the  princes  of  the  blood  did  not  pay  one 
twelfth  of  the  amount  for  which  they  were  justly 
liable ;  on  an  average,  the  assessment  on  the  estates 
of  gentlemen  was  probably  not  over  one  sixth  of  the 
sum  which  would  have  been  levied  on  property  of  the 
same  value  in  the  hands  of  roturiers.^ 

At  the  beginning  of  Louis  XV.'s  reign  the  bour- 
geoisie filled  a  less  important  place  than  at  its  close. 
With  the  development  of  commerce  resulted  a  growth 
of  wealth  which  secured  for  its  possessors  an  increas- 
ing influence  in  society  and  the  state.  Many  of  the 
fortunes  accumulated  would  be  regarded  as  consider- 
able even  in  our  days.  Samuel  Bernard,  the  great 
banker,  was  said  to  have  left  thirty  millions ;  M.  de 
Bellegarde,  a  farmer  of  taxes,  had  a  fortune  of  eight 
millions,  and  the  list  of  those  whose  wealth  was  reck- 
oned by  millions  was  not  a  small  one.  By  the  very 
fact  of  their  riches  such  men  were  brought  into  inti- 
mate relations  with  the  aristocracy,  whose  society  they 
sought,  and  whose  vices  they  imitated  more  easily  than 
their  virtues. 

Bernard  led  a  life  of  magnificent  display ;  his  table 
alone  cost  him  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  livres  a 
year ;  his  mistress  was  given  a  great  estate ;  his  sons 
squandered  fortunes ;  his  daughter  married  the  Mar- 
quis of  Mircpoix.    Some  blamed  the  marquis,  writes  a 

'  The  evils  resulting  from  an  undcr-asscssmeul  of  tbe  property 
of  nobles  are  of teu  referred  to  by  Turgot. 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  35 

contemporary,  for  allying  himself  with  a  family  so  lack- 
ing in  lustre,  but  he  adds,  "  in  these  days  nothing  but 
money  is  considered."  ^  Even  in  the  courtly  era  of 
Louis  XIV.,  Madame  de  Sevigne  had  written  that 
the  millions  were  always  of  good  family.  The  lives 
of  many  of  these  parvenus,  the  most  of  whom  gained 
their  wealth  in  transactions  with  the  state,  were  too 
often  a  poor  reproduction  of  the  reckless  career  of 
spendthrift  nobles.  Madame  d'Epinay  has  described 
the  routine  of  existence  at  her  husband's,  a  man  who, 
like  many  of  his  fellows,  combined  educated  and  artis- 
tic tastes  with  every  folly  of  conduct.  When  he  arose 
his  valet  hastened  to  assist  in  the  toilette,  two  lackeys 
were  on  hand  to  receive  his  orders,  and  a  secretary 
to  attend  to  his  correspondence.  Then  followed  what 
seems  a  burlesque  on  the  scenes  which  attended  the 
king's  rising :  M.  d'Epinay  walked  into  his  antecham- 
ber amid  two  rows  of  parasites  and  proteges,  dealers 
and  merchants,  lackeys  and  beggars,  and,  alas !  always 
a  goodly  assemblage  of  creditors,  who  danced  attend- 
ance long  before  they  were  able  to  obtain  their  pay.^ 
His  father  acquired  wealth  as  a  farmer  of  taxes,  and 
the  son  inherited  a  fortune,  and  an  office  of  which 
the  gains  were  as  large  as  they  were  unconsciona- 
ble. No  riches  could  keep  pace  with  his  prodigality, 
and  he  squandered  his  money  on  every  device  that 
could  be  suggested  by  dissipation  and  improvidence. 
With  all  this  he  was  a  polished  and  an  agreeable 
man.  He  had  a  smattering  of  every  useless  accom- 
plishment ;  he  was  a  fair  musician,  and  a  bit  of  a 
poet;  he  had  a  taste  for  architecture  and  painting 
and  cooking,  and  was  a  reasonably  good  carpenter ;  he 

^  Journal  de  Barbier,  August,  1733. 
2  Mem.  Mme.  d'Epinay,  307. 


36  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

ruined  himself  and  his  family  with  the  utmost  amia- 
bility. His  relations  with  his  wife  are  a  curious  and 
a  melancholy  picture  of  the  social  condition  of  the 
time,  for  he  consulted  her  with  frankness  as  to  appro- 
priate gifts  for  the  actresses  on  whom  he  squandered 
countless  thousands.  At  last  his  dissipation  cost  him 
his  office,  as  it  had  exhausted  his  fortune ;  separated 
from  his  family,  ruined  in  position,  hopelessly  bank- 
rupt, he  hummed  and  thrummed  through  life  to  the 
end,  giving  dainty  little  suppers,  patronizing  the  stage, 
adoring  actresses,  with  perfect  affability,  courtesy,  and 
contentment. 

It  was  not  by  such  men  that  society  could  be  changed 
for  the  better,  yet  as  years  went  on  the  upper  middle 
class  assumed  greater  importance ;  the  influence  of 
commerce  and  literature  became  larger,  while  that  of 
Versailles  grew  less.  Before  Louis's  reign  was  ended, 
the  public  sought  inspiration  from  houses  at  Paris 
where  gathered  philosophers  and  economists,  rather 
than  from  the  salons  of  an  ancient  aristocracy.  But 
in  the  early  part  of  the  century  the  middle  classes 
exerted  little  influence  in  the  administration  of  the 
state. 

To  the  most  important  class  in  the  population  the 
government  gave  least  attention ;  upon  the  tillers  of 
the  soil  the  burden  of  taxation  fell  most  heavily,  and 
little  heed  was  given  to  the  amelioration  of  their  lot. 
Yet  no  one  can  understand  the  course  of  French  his- 
tory without  giving  to  the  character  of  the  French 
peasantry  more  study  than  it  has  often  received. 
Among  the  national  characteristics  of  the  French,  as 
they  are  generally  conceived,  are  wit,  frivolity,  fickle- 
ness, a  readiness  for  political  change.  The  French 
peasants  have  few  of  the  qualities  which  are  assumed 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  37 

to  be  those  of  the  whole  nation ;  they  have  been  con- 
servative, unwilling  to  deviate  from  the  usages  of  the 
past,  slow  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  needs  of  the 
future,  untiring  in  their  industry,  often  narrow  in 
their  intelligence,  yet  fond  of  gain,  and  eager  to  add 
sou  by  sou  to  their  savings,  and  acre  by  acre  to  their 
little  parcels  of  laud.  Among  them  neither  wit  nor 
intellectual  brightness  has  found  a  fertile  soil,  but 
they  have  contributed  to  the  nation's  character  a  cer- 
tain stubborn  tenacity,  for  which  it  has  not  always 
received  credit.  It  is  from  the  innumerable  petty 
hoards  of  a  thrifty  and  often  an  avaricious  peasantry 
that  the  money  has  been  forthcoming  which  has  saved 
France  from  financial  ruin  in  the  worst  crises  of  her 
history.  The  country  depends  on  a  class  whose  strong- 
est quality  is  an  indomitable  persistence,  and  this  has 
enabled  the  French  people  to  escape  the  overthrow 
with  which  they  have  so  often  been  threatened. 

The  contrast  between  the  upper  classes  and  the 
peasantry  in  France  has  always  been  far  more  marked 
than  between  the  cori'esponding  orders  in  England. 
Broad  as  are  the  distinctions  that  result  from  differ- 
ences in  birth  and  education  and  wealth,  yet  there  has 
always  been  much  in  common  between  an  English 
nobleman  and  an  English  yeoman ;  through  all  the 
centuries  of  English  history  it  is  easy  to  see  the  char- 
acteristics which  have  bound  together  the  estates  of 
the  realm.  It  has  not  been  so  in  France ;  either  in 
the  eighteenth  century  or  the  centuries  prior  it  is  hard 
to  find  any  point  of  resemblance  between  the  peasant 
who  labored  in  the  fields  and  the  gentleman  who  lived 
in  the  chateaux.  There  was  no  such  difference  in 
character  and  tendencies  and  tastes  between  the  peer 
and  the  plowman  in  England  as  that  which  in  France 

/  H  .:.  -^  4- 


88  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

seemed  to  draw  an  impassable  line  between  Monsieur 
le  Marquis  and  Jacques  Bonhomme. 

At  the  preseut  time,  one  half  of  the  population  of 
France  is  occupied  with  the  cidture  of  the  soil ;  the 
proportion  was  somewhat  larger  in  the  last  century, 
and  under  Louis  XV.,  of  twenty  million  people,  nearly 
fifteen  millions  belonged  to  the  peasantry.*  Not  only 
were  they  the  largest  class,  but  they  were  by  far  the 
largest  contributors  to  the  national  wealth.  Even 
now  the  wealth  of  France  is  chiefly  agricultural,  and 
a  century  and  a  half  ago  French  manufactories  were 
comparatively  small  and  the  era  of  great  industrial 
development  had  not  begun.  The  French  as  a  people 
have  not  been  preeminent  in  commercial  intelligence ; 
they  do  not  equal  the  English  in  business  enterprise  ; 
they  have  had  poor  success  in  colonial  development ; 
the  nation  owes  its  prosperity  chiefly  to  the  unremit- 
ting toil  given  to  a  fertile  soil,  and  to  the  unwearying 
thrift  by  which  the  small  but  steady  gains  of  agricul- 
ture have  been  accumulated  until  they  reached  enor- 
mous proportions.  The  soil  of  France  is  rich,  but  in 
the  culture  of  it  more  has  been  due  to  the  indefatiga- 
ble industry  of  the  peasants  than  to  the  intelligence 
they  displayed  in  their  methods.  More  than  a  cen- 
tury before,  Olivier  de  Serres,  the  most  famous  of 
French  agricultural  writers,  had  bidden  his  country- 
men to  cling  to  the  plow  of  their  ancestors,  and  to 
beware  of  innovations.^ 

*  In  1792,  Arthur  Young  estimated  the  urban  population  at 
six  millions  and  the  country  population  at  twenty  millions. 
Travels  in  France,  363.  The  latter  has  changed  little  in  a  cen- 
tury, being  still  about  nineteen  millions  ;  the  increase  has  been 
entirely  in  the  cities. 

*  Theatre  d^ Agriculture. 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  39 

No  advice  was  less  needed.  The  French  people 
do  not  take  readily  to  economical  novelties,  nor  have 
farmers  in  any  nation  been  prompt  to  change  the 
modes  of  culture  which  they  learned  from  their  sires, 
and  the  peasants  have  been  the  most  conservative 
among  Frenchmen,  and  the  most  averse  to  change 
among  farmers.  Arthur  Young  commented  repeat- 
edly on  the  backward  condition  of  French  agriculture. 
In  Brittany,  he  said,  husbandry  had  not  further  ad- 
vanced than  among  the  Hurons.^ 

In  some  districts  the  conditions  were  better,  for  the 
differences  in  intelligence  and  prosperity  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  were  far  greater  than  they  are 
now.  Yet  if  a  peasant  who  lived  in  the  days  of 
Charlemagne  could  have  revisited  the  scene  of  his 
labors  in  the  early  part  of  Louis  XV.'s  reign,  he 
would  have  seen  few  notable  changes  in  the  manner 
in  which  the  soil  was  cultivated  ;  the  great  forests  had 
somewhat  diminished,  the  amount  of  improved  land 
had  increased  with  an  increasing  population,  but  he 
would  have  found  his  descendants  plowing  and  plant- 
ing and  reaping  in  much  the  same  way  that  he  did 
himself. 

Imperfect  as  were  the  means  adopted,  the  results 
were  large.  Working  with  the  poorest  tools  and, 
from  the  conservatism  of  his  nature,  slow  to  apply 
improved  methods,  even  if  he  had  been  aware  of  their 
existence,  yet  by  rising  early  and  laboring  late  the 
peasant  made  his  little  piece  of  land  yield  a  large 
increase. 

In  great  measure  this  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he 
was  working  for  himself  and  not  for  another.  Peasant 
proprietorship  in  France  is  far  from  being  a  new 
^  Travels  in  France,  123.' 


40  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

thing,  and  the  extent  of  it  furnishes  some  criterion  of 
the  prosperity  of  different  periods.  A  considerable 
portion  of  the  soil  belonged  to  peasant  owners  as  far 
back  as  the  thirteenth  century,  and  complaints  wei'e 
frequent  of  the  extent  to  which  the  land  was  subdi- 
vided. At  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  Arthur  Young 
thought  that  over  one  half  of  the  soil  was  in  the  pos- 
session of  small  proprietors.  This  estimate  was  too 
high.  About  one  third  of  French  soil  is  now  owned 
by  the  peasantry,  that  is,  by  men  whose  holdings  are 
less  than  twenty  acres,  and  over  three  million  five 
hundred  thousand  proprietors  cultivate  their  own 
land.^  There  has  been  some  increase  in  peasant  pro- 
prietorship since  the  downfall  of  the  old  regime, 
although  this  has  been  less  than  is  supposed ;  in  the 
early  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  peasantry 
undoubtedly  owned  one  fifth  of  all  the  soil  of  France, 
and  they  owned  more  than  one  fifth  of  that  which  was 
actually  cidtivated.^  The  great  forests,  the  vast  tracts 
of  waste  land,  belonged  to  the  government  or  to  large 
owners,  and  probably  almost  one  third  of  the  land  on 
which  crops  were  raised  was  property  of  the  men  who 
tilled  it.^  The  wealth  drawn  from  the  soil  was  vastly 
increased  by  the  number  of  small  proprietors.  A  con- 
temporary, who  was  himself  a  nobleman,  estimated 
that  on  an  average  the  land  owned  by  the  peasantry 
was  four  times  as  productive  as  that  owned  by  the 
nobility.*     "The   magic  of  property  turns   sand  to 

*  Enquete  agricole,  1882. 

'  Lavergne,  Economie  rurale,  49. 

'  The  Vicomte  d'Avenel,  in  his  Histoire  econorhiqtte,  thinks 
that  the  subdivision  of  land  in  1789  was  about  the  samS  propor- 
tionally OP  at  present,  but  the  amount  under  cultivation  is  now 
much  layger.     (Page  287.) 

*  Aygenson,  Considerations  sur  le  gouvemement  de  France. 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  41 

gold,"  Young  wrote,  as  he  saw  the  comfortable  little 
houses  standing  on  the  sandy  soil  of  French  Flanders, 

Yet  the  result  of  unremitting  toil  was  generally 
poverty,  and  sometimes  sharp  distress,  and  of  this 
the  explanation  must  be  found  in  that  fertile  source  of 
human  woe,  bad  government. 

If  the  condition  of  the  peasantry  was  poor,  the  chief 
cause  for  this  was  the  imdue  weight  of  taxation.  The 
total  amount  raised  for  the  needs  of  the  government 
did  not,  perhaps,  consume  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
national  income  under  Louis  XV.  than  under  the 
present  French  republic,  but,  as  a  result  of  inequali- 
ties in  the  imposition,  the  burden  fell  more  heavily 
upon  the  lower  classes  than  it  now  falls  upon  any 
class.  The  cost  of  collecting  the  national  revenue 
does  not  now  exceed  five  per  cent. ;  in  Louis  XV.'s 
reign,  between  the  profits  made  by  the  farmers  to 
whom  taxes  were  let  and  the  expenses  to  which  tax- 
payers were  constantly  subjected  in  the  enforcement 
of  collection,  it  is  not  perhaps  an  overestimate  to  say 
that  the  amount  taken  from  the  people  exceeded  by 
fifty  per  cent,  the  amount  received  by  the  govern- 
ment.^ The  change  that  is  produced  by  an  efiicient 
administration  was  strikingly  illustrated  when  the 
system  of  French  government  was  reorganized  under 
Napoleon.  Six  thousand  competent  ofiicials  did  well 
the  work  which  had  been  done  ill  by  two  hundred 
thousand  collectors ;  the  receipts  of  the  government 
doubled,  and  the  taxpayers  were  better  off;  a  few 
years  showed  the  enormous  difference  to  the  public 

*  Letrosne,  Administration  des  finances,  1789,  estimated  that 
the  king  did  not  receive  over  one  half  of  what  the  nation  paid  ; 
that  the  gabelle  took  one  hundred  million  livres  from  the  peo- 
ple, and  yielded  only  forty-five  million  to  the  government,  and 
other  taxes  yielded  no  more  in  proportion. 


42  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

between  a  vigorous  and  intelligent  administration  and 
the  abuses  and  inefficiency  of  the  old  regime.^ 

In  the  eighteenth  century,  while  a  large  part  of  the 
national  wealth  was  exempt  in  whole  or  in  part  from 
public  burdens,  there  was  no  tax  from  which  the 
peasant  was  free ;  upon  him  fell  the  taille,  the  capi- 
tation, the  additional  percentages  for  purposes  of  war, 
and  the  varied  impositions  which  together  constituted 
the  direct  taxation.  So  severe  were  they  that  they 
often  operated  as  a  check  on  accumulations.  Rous- 
seau relates  an  incident  that  shows  how  an  appearance 
of  squalor  and  need  was  preserved,  lest  the  suspicion 
of  prosperity  should  invite  a  heavier  burden  of  taxa- 
tion. He  stopped  at  a  peasant's  house  and  asked  for 
dinner.  At  first  his  host  put  before  him  only  barley 
bread  and  skimmed  milk,  and  said  this  was  all  he  had  ; 
but,  convinced  at  last  that  his  visitor  was  not  a  gov- 
ernment spy,  the  peasant  opened  his  larder,  produced 
some  ham,  with  good  wheat  bread,  an  omelet,  and  a 
bottle  of  wine,  and  they  dined  well.  He  concealed 
his  abundance,  so  he  told  his  guest,  on  account  of  the 
taille,  for  he  would  be  ruined  by  taxation  if  the  offi- 
cials did  not  suppose  that  he  was  dying  of  hunger.^ 
His  fears  were  not  ill  founded,  for  any  appearances  of 
well-being  were  sure  to  resvdt  in  an  increase  of  the 
taille.  An  officer  told  Argenson  that  in  the  district 
where  he  lived  the  taxes  ought  to  be  increased  be- 
cause the  peasants  were  fatter  than  elsewhere  ;  he  had 
seen  chickens'  feathers  scattered  about  their  ^ors, 
which  showed  that  they  lived  well  and  could  pay  more 
to  the  state. ^ 

^  These  changes  are  well  summed  up  in  Tainc,  Le  Regime 
modeme. 

*  CEuvres  de  Rousseau,  xvi.  282. 
8  Journal,  September,  1751. 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  43 

It  is  probable  that  of  every  hundred  francs  earned 
by  the  peasant  almost  one  half  was  taken  for  the 
needs  of  the  fisc ;  the  king's  share  in  the  crop,  said 
Turgot,  was  as  large  as  the  owner's,  and  in  addition 
to  this  were  the  feudal  and  religious  imposts  to  which 
the  land  was  subject.^  Nominally  the  church  took  a 
tenth,  but  practically  the  amount  collected  by  it  was 
considerably  less  ;  the  imposition  of  tithes  was  attended 
with  some  degree  of  leniency ;  payments  were  often 
made  in  kind,  and  it  may  be  fairly  estimated  that  the 
tithe  on  an  average  did  not  take  more  than  seven  per 
cent,  of  the  produce  of  the  soil.^  It  is  more  difficult 
to  ascertain  the  amount  collected  by  the  innumerable 
feudal  dues ;  whUe  some  of  these  were  severe,  many 
were  exceedingly  light,  and  throughout  the  century 
the  old  seigneurial  impositions  tended  to  fall  into 
desuetude.  Yet  much  more  than  one  half  of  the 
amount  earned  by  the  peasant  was  used  to  discharge 
the  demands  made  upon  him  by  the  government,  the 
church,  and  the  nobleman  to  whose  feudal  rights  his 
parcel  of  land  was  subject.^     The  burden  of  taxation 

^  Turgot  said  that  at  Limoges,  when  he  was  superintendent, 
the  taxes  amounted  to  a  little  over  one  half  of  the  product  of  a 
peasant's  piece  of  land,  but  in  some  districts,  as  for  instance  at 
Saintonge,  he  insisted  the  taxes  did  not  exceed  twenty-four  per 
cent.,  and  on  the  whole  he  estimated  the  portion  taken  by  the  fisc 
at  one  third.  Avis  sur  IHmposition  de  la  taille.  He  probably 
underestimated  the  amount  of  taxation  in  other  districts  in  his 
endeavor  to  obtain  some  alleviation  for  his  own  people. 

*  Lavergne,  Economie  rurale  de  la  France,  estimates  that  in 
1789  the  tithes  did  not  amount  to  over  five  per  cent,  of  the  net 
product. 

^  Taine  says  over  81  per  cent,  of  the  product  of  a  peasant's 
land  was  absorbed  by  imposts  of  all  kinds,  but  his  estimate  is 
too  high  ;  existence  could  not  have  been  supported  from  one  fifth 
of  the  crop. 


44  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

upon  the  French  peasant  under  the  old  regime  was 
probably  over  three  times  as  heavy  as  it  is  at  present, 
and  as  a  result,  even  in  times  of  prosperity,  his  lot 
was  hard. 

When  the  margin  for  subsistence  was  so  small,  it 
is  manifest  that  a  failure  of  the  crop  was  sure  to  be 
attended  by  serious  resxilts.  Such  failures  were  not 
infrequent,  and  their  effects  were  aggravated  by  the 
restraints  upon  the  movement  of  grain  which  con- 
tinued in  force  until  late  in  the  century.  It  is  in 
these  periods  that  we  read  accounts  of  hideous  misery 
among  large  classes  of  men.  In  Paris  indeed,  by  the 
constant  efforts  of  the  government,  the  price  of  bread 
was  kept  within  some  bounds ;  the  capital  received  the 
same  attention  that  Rome  did  under  the  emperors ; 
even  at  large  cost  to  the  state,  food  was  obtained  for 
the  metropolis  at  prices  which  avoided  the  peril  of 
serious  discontent  among  a  swarming  population. 

The  remote  provinces  received  no  such  fatherly  care 
when  the  crop  was  insufficient ;  not  only  were  there 
no  large  charities  which  could  relieve  distress,  but  the 
restraints  on  the  shipment  of  grain  from  more  fortu- 
nate sections  increased  the  danger  of  actual  starva- 
tion. "More  Frenchmen  have  died  of  want  within 
two  years,"  Argenson  wrote  in  1740,  at  a  season  when 
the  crops  had  been  deficient,  "  than  were  killed  in  all 
the  wars  of  Louis  XIV."  ^  Doubtless  this  was  a  gross 
exaggeration,  but  there  are  many  accounts  which  tell 
of  the  sufferings  of  the  peasantry  at  such  periods. 
Massillon  writes  from  Auvergne,  also  in  1740,  "The 
people  of  our  country  live  in  misery,  they  have  neithtBr 
furniture  nor  beds ;  during  part  of  the  year  the  most 
of  them  have  no  nourishment,  except  bread  made  of 

•  Mtm.  (TArgensoiif  iii.  92.     ' 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  45 

oats  and  barley,  and  even  this  they  must  snatch  from 
their  own  mouths  and  those  of  their  children  in  order 
to  pay  the  taxes.  ...  I  see  these  unseemly  sights  every 
year.  .  .  .  The  negroes  of  our  islands  are  happier." 

Even  when  an  average  crop  relieved  the  danger  of 
actual  starvation,  travelers  tell  us  of  the  spectacles  of 
misery  that  met  them  in  many  parts  of  the  land.  The 
houses  of  the  peasantry  were  little  better  than  huts, 
small,  filthy,  often  without  windows  ;  the  inmates  were 
clothed  in  rags,  barefooted,  haggard,  unwashed,  igno- 
rant, and  miserable. 

Such  was  not  always  their  condition.  Excessive 
impositions  were  the  chief  cause  of  the  peasant's  mis- 
ery, and  where  those  were  lightened  his  lot  was  often 
one  of  comparative  comfort.  In  the  irregularities  of 
the  French  system,  while  most  of  the  peasantry  were 
overtaxed,  some  escaped  any  excessive  burden.  In 
the  southern  provinces,  and  especially  in  Languedoc, 
they  enjoyed  a  considerable  measure  of  prosperity. 
A  larger  degree  of  local  self-government,  a  partial 
exemption  from  the  financial  and  commercial  system 
in  which  the  rest  of  the  country  was  involved,  secured 
for  them  an  amount  of  well-being  far  exceeding  that 
of  most  of  the  French  people.  "  In  Languedoc,  Pro- 
vence, and  Dauphiny,"  writes  Argenson  during  the 
worst  of  the  famine  of  1740,  "  there  is  an  abundance 
of  everything.  .  .  .  Commerce  is  free,  and  wheat  is 
never  lacking."  ^  Later  in  the  century,  Arthur  Young 
tells  us  of  finding  filth,  misery,  and  poverty  in  one 
district,  while  in  another  the  houses  were  neat,  the 
peasants  were  well  fed,  and  the  signs  of  well-being 
were  manifest.  Unfortunately,  in  the  greater  part  of 
France  the  condition  of  the  peasantry  was  bad,  the 
^Argenson,  November,  1740. 


46  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

instances  of  prosperity  were  the  exceptions  and  not  the 
rule.  In  Berri,  Young  writes  that  he  found  the  hus- 
bandry poor  and  the  people  miserable;  we  may  be 
sure  their  condition  was  no  better  fifty  years  earlier ; 
in  Orleans,  the  fields  were  scenes  of  pitiable  manage- 
ment, as  the  houses  were  scenes  of  extreme  misery ; 
Poitou  was  poor  and  unimproved ;  in  Brittany,  there 
was  hideous  wretchedness,  he  found  there  only  privi- 
leges and  poverty.  "  One  third  of  what  I  have  seen 
of  this  province,"  he  writes,  "  seems  uncultivated,  and 
nearly  all  of  it  is  plunged  in  misery."  In  Limousin, 
said  Turgot,  after  the  payment  of  taxes  there  re- 
mained not  over  thirty  livres  for  each  person  with 
which  to  provide  food  and  clothing  and  shelter. 
Even  in  relative  value  this  sum  would  be  less  than 
twenty  dollars  now,  and  it  seems  incredible  that  on 
80  beggarly  a  pittance  life  could  be  sustained.  It  is 
not  strange  that  he  adds,  "  Agriculture,  as  it  is  prac- 
ticed by  our  peasantry,  is  like  life  in  the  galleys." 

If  starvation  had  been  the  ordinary  lot  of  the  French 
peasants,  the  race  would  have  become  extinct ;  on 
the  contrary,  they  increased  in  numbers  during  the 
eighteenth  century,  slowly  during  the  first  half  and 
with  somewhat  greater  rapidity  in  the  forty  years 
preceding  the  Revolution.  Notwithstanding  unfair 
taxation  and  imperfect  culture  of  the  soil,  as  a  result 
of  laborious  industry  their  condition  improved.  Wal- 
pole,  traveling  through  France  from  Boulogne  to  Paris 
in  17G6,  writes,  "  I  find  this  country  wonderfully 
enriched  since  I  saw  it  four-and-twenty  years  ago. 
Boulogne  is  grown  quite  a  snug,  plump  town,  with  a 
number  of  new  houses.  The  worst  villages  are  tight,) 
and  wooden  shoes  have  disappeared."  Improvement, 
even  in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  is  indicated  by 


THE  CONDITION  OF  FRANCE.  47 

another  sure  criterion,  a  rise  in  the  price  of  land.  In- 
creased activity  in  business  followed  the  reforms  in 
the  currency  of  1726,  and  an  enhancement  in  the 
value  of  farms  seems  to  have  attended  it.  In  1726, 
the  average  price  of  agricultural  land  was  estimated 
at  twenty-five  dollars  an  acre ;  by  1750,  this  had  risen 
to  thirty-five  dollars.^ 

Notwithstanding  the  burden  of  taxation  and  the 
pressure  of  need,  the  peasantry  during  all  the  century 
continued  to  increase  its  holdings  of  the  soil.  Small 
as  were  the  earnings  of  peasant  proprietors,  if,  by 
means  of  the  most  rigorous  economy,  anything  re- 
mained at  the  end  of  the  year,  it  was  put  one  side,  and 
the  only  thing  that  would  open  the  box  containing 
their  hoards  was  the  possibility  of  acquiring  another 
bit  of  land.  A  thirst,  not  for  gold,  but  for  land,  has 
been  characteristic  of  the  French  peasant  as  far  back 
as  his  history  can  be  traced,  and  opportunities  were 
not  wanting  for  new  purchases.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  nobility  were  non-residents,  their  land  yielded 
them  little,  and  ownership  did  not  of  itself  bring  the 
social  influence  which  had  so  important  an  effect  on 
the  holding  of  land  in  England.  The  French  noble- 
man was  at  court,  he  was  in  debt,  and  he  received 
small  returns  from  his  estates  in  the  provinces.  It 
is  evident,  therefore,  that  it  was  for  the  interest  of 
the  gentleman  to  sell,  and  the  peasant  was  usually  the 
only  purchaser.  Thus,  little  by  little,  an  acre  here 
and  an  acre  there,  the  slow  process  of  accumulation 
by  the  peasantry  went  on,  and  it  went  on  with  as 
much  rapidity  in  the  eighteenth  century  as  at  any  er» 
of  the  past. 

^  These  figures  are  derived  from  the  reports  of  sales  g^ven  ui 
ALvenel,  Histaire  economique,  p.  388. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  MINISTRY   OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOUEBON. 

The  death  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  left  vacant  the 
position  of  prime  minister.  Louis  XV.  was  a  boy  of 
thirteen ;  though  legally  of  age,  he  was  not  old  enough 
to  perform  the  duties  of  his  office,  and  the  successor  of 
Orleans  would  be  the  actual  ruler  of  the  kingdom. 
Young  as  Louis  was,  it  was  by  his  choice  that  the 
minister  must  be  designated,  but  the  desires  of  the 
sovereign  were  controlled  by  a  man  who  had  succeeded 
in  obtaining,  to  an  unusual  degree,  his  affection  and 
his  confidence;  the  royal  scholar  listened  with  the 
trustfulness  of  youth  to  the  coimsels  of  the  preceptor, 
who  was  to  be  known  in  history  as  Cardinal  Fleury. 
Like  many  of  the  Catholic  clergy  who  attained  prom- 
inence and  power,  Fleury  came  from  humble  stock. ^ 
His  father  was  a  receiver  of  taxes,  and  the  son  gained 
his  education  at  the  cost  of  the  privations  which  are 
the  lot  of  needy  students.^  He  chose  the  church  as 
his  profession,  and  as  a  priest  his  conduct  was  deco- 
rous, moral,  and  charitable.  But  he  was  not  a  man 
of  fervent  religious  character;  always  a  reputable 
priest,  his  interests  were  in  the  world  and  not  in  tBe 
church. 

He  possessed  many  qualities  which  are  of  value  for 

^  Dudos  says  that  he  belonged  to  an  ancient  and  noble  family, 
but  the  pedigrees  invented  for  those  who  achieve  greatness  are 
subject  to  suspicion. 

2  St.  Simon,  ii.  148. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.        49 

worldly  advancement.  His  person  was  handsome,  his 
manners  combined  dignity  with  unfailing  affability, 
he  was  full  of  tact  and  free  from  greed;  he  made 
many  friends  and  few  enemies.  Such  a  man  rarely 
lacks  patrons.  The  favor  of  Cardinal  Bonzi  obtained 
for  him  a  position  as  one  of  the  queen's  ahnoners, 
and  after  her  death  he  was  appointed  almoner  of 
Louis  XIV. ;  he  became  an  inmate  of  the  court,  and 
was  received  as  a  welcome  member  of  society.  A 
well-mannered  abbe,  who  was  always  agreeable  and 
never  indecorous,  could  reasonably  expect  to  be  made 
a  bishop.  Louis  XIV.,  it  is  said,  regarded  the  abbe 
as  better  fitted  for  life  at  court  than  for  the  charge 
of  souls,  but,  at  the  intercession  of  Cardinal  Noailles, 
rieury  was  chosen  as  bishop  of  Frejus,  a  small  and 
unimportant  diocese  in  the  south  of  France.^  He  did 
not  incur  the  reproach  of  becoming  a  non-resident ;  for 
sixteen  years  he  dwelt  among  his  flock,  performing 
his  episcopal  duties  with  great  propriety  and  with 
little  zeal.  An  unimportant  see  might  well  have  sat- 
isfied the  ambition  of  a  man  of  moderate  parts  and 
cautious  character,  but  Fleury  retained  his  taste  for 
the  court  and  wearied  of  the  life  of  a  country  bishop. 
In  1715,  when  he  was  past  sixty,  he  resigned  his 
post,  and  soon  afterward  he  was  named  by  Louis 
XIV. 's  will  as  preceptor  of  Louis  XV.,  who  was 
then  a  child  of  five.     The  position  was   peculiarly 

^  Madame  de  Maintenon,  writing  to  Noailles  in  1699,  says  : 
"  M.  I'abbd  de  Fleury  n'etoit  pas  lui  seul  un  personnage  k  etre 
sitot  dveque."  Cor.  ^en.,  iv.  297.  St.  Simon,  ii.  143,  attributes 
his  promotion  to  the  same  cause,  and  he  was  usually  well  in- 
formed. He  reports  that  the  king  said  to  Noailles,  "  I  do  this 
with  regret,  and  you  will  repent  of  your  choice,"  which  is  quite 
probable.  The  prophecy  was  verified,  for  in  the  conflict  over 
the  Unigenitus  Fleury  was  always  opposed  to  Noailles. 


60  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

adapted  to  him ;  he  soon  gained  the  confidence  of  hia 
pupil,  and  in  time  this  made  him  the  chief  man  in 
France,  with  an  authority  as  absolute  as  that  of  Riche- 
lieu or  Mazarin. 

The  choice  of  Fleury  as  preceptor  seems  to  have 
been  judicious,  and  the  influence  which  he  long  pos- 
sessed was  on  the  whole  wisely  exercised.  Fleury 
was  not  a  man  to  instill  heroic  views  into  his  pupil's 
mind,  but  Louis  was  not  a  man  who  could  have  im- 
bibed them.  The  king  was  fairly  well  educated,  and 
the  defects  of  his  character,  which  made  the  later  part 
of  his  reign  a  blot  on  French  history,  could  have  been 
corrected  by  no  instructor. 

The  amiability  and  mildness  of  Fleury 's  character 
soon  aroused  a  warm  personal  affection  in  his  pupil ; 
if  Louis  lived,  it  was  plain  that  the  affable  preceptor 
was  not  a  person  to  be  disregarded.  He  manifested, 
however,  little  desire  for  advancement ;  he  had  led  a 
tranquil  life,  and  it  did  not  seem  probable  that  when 
approaching  seventy  he  would  develop  a  lust  for 
power  or  place.  Although  he  seemed  unambitious, 
yet  he  realized  the  advantages  of  his  position,  and  was 
allured  by  no  dignity  which  would  interfere  with  his 
personal  relations  with  the  king.  In  1721,  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  offered  him  the  archbishopric  of  Rheims. 
This  was  among  the  great  prizes  of  the  French  church ; 
the  Archbishop  of  Rheims  was  one  of  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal peers  of  the  realm ;  by  him  the  king  was  coj^se- 
crated;  he  enjoyed  the  income  of  a  farmer  general 
and  the  dignity  of  a  prince.  Yet  no  solicitation  could 
induce  Fleury  to  accept  a  position  which  might  loosen 
his  hold  upon  his  pupil's  affections.  His  friends  sug- 
gested that  he  should  confide  the.  duties  of  the  office 
to  a  vicar  and  content  himself  with  receiving  its  rev- 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.        51 

enues,  but  Fleury  was  not  greedy  for  money,  and  he 
knew  the  advantages  of  a  reputation  for  propriety  of 
conduct ;  more  sincerely  than  is  common  he  persisted 
in  declaring,  "Nolo  episcopari." '  When  he  was 
living  in  his  former  diocese,  it  is  said  that  he  once 
signed  a  letter,  "Fleury,  by  divine  wrath,  bishop  of 
Frejus."''^  It  is  certain  that  he  had  lost  his  taste  for 
bishoprics. 

The  sudden  death  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  left  the 
way  open  for  Fleury ;  he  had  but  to  say  the  word  and 
be  declared  the  prime  minister  of  France.  He  was 
now  a  man  of  seventy,  and  at  that  age  few  are  will- 
ing to  postpone  the  gratification  of  their  ambition  to 
an  indefinite  future.  Whether  from  timidity  or  from 
hesitation,  the  word  was  not  spoken. 

If  Fleury  was  uncertain,  there  was  an  aspirant  who 
never  hesitated  to  ask  for  what  he  wanted.  The 
Duke  of  Bourbon  was  the  head  of  the  great  House  of 
Conde,  and  he  inherited  qualities  which  that  family 
had  often  displayed  since  they  deserted  the  faith  and 
the  heroic  practices  of  their  ancestors  a  century  be- 
fore. The  duke  combined  the  greed  of  his  grandfather 
with  the  violent  ambition  of  his  great-grandfather; 
though  he  was  a  young  man  during  the  regency  of 
Orleans,  he  had  been  persistent,  and  successful  in 
demanding  office  and  favor.  He  reaped  fabulous 
gains  from  the  operations  of  Law ;  he  asked  enormous 
advantages  in  return  for  the  protection  he  extended, 
and  the  unfortunate  adventurer  was  not  in  position 
to  say  no  to  so  powerful  a  nobleman.  It  was  reported 
that  Bourbon  had  carried  off  many  millions  in  gold 

1  Mem.  de  St.  Simon,  xvii.  274-280. 

^  This  is  stated  by  Voltaire,  but  like  most  historical  anec- 
dotes, it  is  probably  incorrect. 


52  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

from  the  spoils  of  Law's  bank  and  the  Mississippi 
Company;  the  government  compelled  some  humbler 
speculators  to  disgorge  their  gains,  but  no  one  ven- 
tured to  disturb  the  head  of  the  House  of  Conde. 

It  was  in  the  evening  of  December  2,  1723,  that 
Orleans  was  suddenly  stricken  with  apoplexy.  The 
Duke  of  Bourbon  was  then  at  Versailles ;  the  moment 
he  heard  the  news  he  waited  upon  the  king,  and  de- 
manded the  position  of  prime  minister.  Whether 
Fleury  was  too  modest  to  ask  this  great  office  for 
himself,  or  whether  he  feared  to  offend  a  man  of 
Bourbon's  rank  and  violent  character,  he  at  once 
declared  that  his  majesty  could  do  no  better  than 
charge  the  duke  with  the  burden  of  his  affairs.  The 
young  king  turned  to  his  preceptor  and  nodded  his 
head,  without  saying  a  word,  and  thus  the  appoint- 
ment was  made.^ 

The  Duke  of  Bourbon  was  thirty -one  years  of  age 
when  he  became  prime  minister.  Few  men  were  less 
fitted  for  the  duties  of  such  a  place ;  he  was  without 
political  capacity  or  political  experience,  and  his  brief 
ministry  was  characterized  by  corruption,  bad  judg- 
ment, and  bigotry.  The  only  principles  which  actu- 
ated him  on  assuming  office  were  a  strong  resolve  to 
get  what  he  could  for  himself,  and  an  equally  strong 
resolve  that  the  family  of  Orleans  shoTild  get  nothing. 
The  duke  had  a  fanatical  hatred  for  any  one  who  bore 
the  name  of  Orleans ;  the  regent  had  tried  to  satisfy 
in  some  degree  the  incessant  and  insatiable  demands 
of  his  cousin,  but  the  effort  was  not  successful ;  much 
as  Bourbon  had  received,  he  always  wanted  more. 

*  St.  Simon,  xix.  201,  802.  St.  Simon  says  that  Fleury  had 
agreed  to  recommend  Bourbon  for  prime  minister  if  Orleans 
died. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.       63 

Now  that  he  was  himgielf  in  power,  the  fact  that  any 
measure  had  obtaineil  the  regent's  approval  made  his 
successor  desirous  for  its  repeal,  and  he  was  haunted 
by  a  constant  fear  lest  the  new  Duke  of  Orleans 
should  obtain  greater  prominence  than  himself  in 
the  councils  of  the  king.  There  was  little  reasoti  to 
be  disquieted  on  this  score.  The  regent's  son  pos- 
sessed neither  the  vices  nor  the  virtues  of  his  father, 
and  he  had  inherited  none  of  his  abilities.  Beginning 
life  amid  the  dissipation  of  the  Palais  Royal,  he  ended 
his  days  amid  the  austerities  of  the  abbey  of  Sainte 
Genevieve,  but  he  was  so  unfortunately  constituted 
that  in  him  even  virtue  became  grotesque ;  the  son  of 
the  regent  and  the  grandfather  of  Philippe  Egalite 
proved  the  uncertainty  of  heredity  by  giving  his  time 
to  writing  treatises  against  the  theatre,  in  the  inter- 
vals of  studies  on  the  theological  works  of  Theodore 
of  Mopsuestia;  although  his  income  exceeded  three 
million  francs,  he  slept  on  a  straw  pallet,  fasted  with 
severity,  went  without  fires  on  cold  winter  days,  and 
made  his  fellow  monks  miserable  by  the  rigorous  dis- 
cipline on  which  he  insisted.  Such  practices  killed 
him  at  exactly  the  same  age  that  debauchery  closed 
the  career  of  his  father.  ^  Bourbon  was  not  a  man  of 
ability,  but  he  had  little  trouble  in  pushing  his  pious 
cousin  out  of  his  path. 

The  duke  was  controlled  by  another  passion  stronger 
even  than  his  jealousy  of  Orleans,  and  that  was  his  af- 
fection for  Mme.  de  Prie.  She  was  a  woman  well  fitted 
to  please;  her  conversation  was  witty  and  agreeable; 
she  had  read  much ;  her  memory  was  tenacious ;  her 
beauty  was  set  off  by  a  charming  air  of  modesty  and 
reserve.    Never  were  appearances  more  deceptive :  no 

^  Journal  de  Darhier,\.  15G  etpas.;  Mem.  (VArgenson,  iii.  40ii. 


64  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

woman  regarded  virtue  less ;  she  was  violent  in  her 
hates;  she  was  selfish  and  greedy  and  false.  "The 
Duke  of  Bourbon's  mistress,"  wrote  Bolingbroke,  "is 
attached  to  him  by  no  inclination,  and  is  at  once  the 
most  corrupt  and  ambitious  jade  alive."  ^ 

Hardly  had  the  duke  assumed  his  office,  when  the 
attention  of  the  community  was  attracted  by  a  new 
vagary  of  the  Bourbon  prince,  to  place  whom  on  the 
Spanish  throne  Louis  XIV.  involved  France  in  years 
of  war.  Superstition  constantly  gained  a  stronger 
hold  on  the  cloudy  and  enfeebled  mind  of  Philip  V., 
and  now  he  suddenly  announced  his  intention  to  abdi- 
cate. This  scheme  had  long  been  in  his  mind.^  It 
was  not  strange  that  Philip  himself  should  desire  a 
life  of  religious  retirement,  in  the  belief  that  thereby 
he  could  increase  his  chance  for  salvation,  I)ut  his 
wife  was  an  ambitious  woman,  who  cared  for  temporal 
as  well  as  spiritual  kingdoms.  She  had  long  ruled 
her  husband  with  an  authority  divided  only  with  his 
confessor,  and  she  had  no  taste  for  abdications;  but 
increasing  fear  of  hell  so  absorbed  Philip's  mind  that 
at  last  Elizabeth's  influence  could  no  longer  prevail 
against  it.^  In  1720,  he  succeeded  in  having  her  join 
him  in  a  written  promise  that  they  would  both  retire 
from  the  world  by  All  Saints'  Day,  1723.  Doubtless 
the  queen  thought  that  if  she  could  postpone  the  evil 
day  for  three  years,  events  would  arise  to  change  the 
kiiig's  mind,  but  she  underestimated  his  temunty  of 
purpose.     To  prepare  for  his  retirement  he  built  the 

1  Letter  of  January  12, 1724. 

2  "  Every  day,"  wrote  an  ambassador,  "  he  has  been  growing 
more  mistrustful,  more  timorous,  and  more  scrupulous."  Aff". 
Etr.,  a'JO,  289. 

^  lb.,  i>as. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.       55 

magnificent  palace  of  San  Ildefonso,  at  the  little  vil- 
lage of  Balsaim,  near  the  gloomy  Escurial  of  Philip 
II.,  and  there  he  sought  to  surround  himself  with  a 
splendor  which  should  remind  him  of  the  glories  of 
Versailles.  His  retreat  was  somewhat  delayed,  prob- 
ably at  his  wife's  solicitations,  but  at  last  he  would 
delay  no  longer.  In  January,  1724,  Philip  surprised 
his  council  by  announcing  that,  after  years  of  reflec- 
tion on  the  miseries  of  life,  he  had  resolved  to  abdi- 
cate his  throne  in  order  to  devote  himself  to  the  ser- 
vice of  God  and  labor  at  the  great  work  of  his  own 
salvation.!  He  addressed  a  letter  to  his  son,  bidding 
him  to  govern  wisely,  to  cultivate  a  special  devotion 
for  the  Holy  Virgin,  and  to  sustain  the  tribunal  of 
the  Inquisition,  that  rampart  of  the  faith  which  had 
preserved  the  purity  of  religion  in  Spain  and  saved 
her  from  the  heresies  which  ravaged  other  lands.^ 
Having  thus  displayed  the  measure  of  his  statesman- 
ship, this  infirm  representative  of  the  Bourbon  family 
retired  to  seclusion  amid  the  beauties  of  San  Ilde- 
fonso, there  to  make  his  salvation  sure.^ 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Louis,  a  prince  who 
showed  no  signs  of  possessing  any  greater  measure 
of  ability  than  his  father.  His  reign  was  brief,  and 
seven  months  after  his  father's  abdication  the  young 

*  Archives  d^ Alcala. 

2  Ih. 

'  Coxe,  in  his  Spain  under  the  Bourbons,  advanced  the  theory 
that  Philip's  abdication  was  intended  to  make  it  easier  for  him 
to  succeed  to  the  French  throne,  in  the  not  improbable  event  of 
Louis  XV.'s  death.  This  theory  cannot  be  adopted  in  view  of 
the  documents  which  are  now  open  to  examination.  PhUip  always 
intended  to  claim  the  French  throne  if  his  nephew  died,  but  his 
abdication  was  due  to  the  morbid  piety  of  a  weak  mind,  and  not 
to  the  counsels  of  ambition. 


5G  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

king  was  carried  off  by  smallpox.  A  younger  bro- 
ther should  now  have  succeeded  to  the  tlirone,  but 
Elizabeth  was  resolved  that  she  would  no  longer  be 
kept  from  the  enjoyment  of  power  by  the  sickly  piety 
of  her  husband.  Philip  himself  seems  to  have  wea- 
ried of  a  life  of  retirement,  and  was  not  averse  to 
resuming  the  crown,  but  he  was  now  involved  in  new 
fears.  He  had  promised  God  to  abdicate;  could  he 
leave  his  retreat  and  return  to  the  world  without 
incurring  fresh  danger  of  perdition?  His  confessor 
was  consulted  and,  to  the  dismay  of  Elizabeth,  he  de- 
cided that  the  king  would  be  guilty  of  grievous  sin  if 
h§  violated  his  promise.  "You  are  a  rascal,"  cried 
the  Italian  nurse,  who  was  a  gi*eat  personage  in  this 
strange  royal  family,  to  the  confessor  who  had  thus 
interfered  with  the  queen's  projects.  "I  would  do 
the  king  good  service  if  I  ran  a  dagger  in  you."  The 
French  still  fancied  that  it  was  for  their  interest  to 
keep  the  grandson  of  Louis  XIV.  on  the  throne,  and 
Marshal  Tesse  sought  to  counteract  the  effect  pro- 
duced on  the  king  by  the  scruples  of  the  confessor. 
At  first  he  was  unsuccessful.  "I  don't  want  to  be 
damned,"  said  Philip  to  the  marshal;  "they  may  do 
what  they  please  with  my  kingdom,  but  I  am  going 
to  save  my  soul."^  The  queen  now  conceived  the 
happy  device  of  consulting  the  papal  nuncio.  More 
worldly  wise  than  the  confessor,  he  adviged  Philip 
that  he  could  resume  the  crown  and  incur  no  risk  of 
hell  fire,  and  the  monarch  allowed  himself  to  be  per- 
suaded. For  twenty -two  years  more  he  remained  on 
the  Spanish  throne,  but  he  still  clung  to  the  idea  of 
abdication ;  at  times  his  hypochondriacal  fancies  were 
especially  strong,  and  in  his  efforts  to  carry  his  pur- 
^  For  all  this,  see  correspondence  of  Tessd,  Aff.  Etr.,  1724. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.        57 

pose  into  effect  he  showed  the  cunning  which  is  often 
found  in  persons  of  infirm  mind.  On  one  occasion 
when  the  queen  had  left  him  for  a  moment,  he  hastily 
signed  a  new  abdication,  and  had  it  conveyed  surrep- 
titiously from  his  room.  She  learned  of  this,  and 
succeeded  in  recapturing  the  fatal  paper  before  it  was 
too  late.  At  last  she  induced  her  husband  to  take  an 
oath  that  he  would  sign  no  more  abdications;  when 
at  times  he  was  especially  fearful  of  incurring  damna- 
tion by  remaining  a  king,  she  could  threaten  him  with 
the  same  danger  if  he  violated  his  oath.  By  such 
devices  he  was  kept  on  the  throne  until  his  death,  but 
it  was  Elizabeth  of  Parma,  and  not  Philip  of  France, 
who  controlled  the  destinies  of  Spain. 

Bourbon  had  been  anxious  that  Philip  should  re- 
turn to  the  throne,  but  actuated  by  his  own  ambition, 
or  by  the  disappointed  vanity  of  his  mistress,  the 
duke  now  decided  on  a  step  which  caused  Spain  to 
abandon  the  alliance  of  France  for  that  of  Austria. 

In  1721,  it  had  been  agreed  that  Louis  XV. 
should  marry  his  kinswoman,  the  Spanish  infanta, 
and  a  daughter  of  Philip  V.  She  was  then  a  child  of 
three,  but  she  was  sent  to  Paris  with  much  parade, 
there  to  receive  a  French  education,  and  await  the 
proper  age  for  the  solemnization  of  the  nuptials. 
Three  years  had  passed  since  then;  to  violate  this 
agreement  and  send  the  princess  back  to  her  parents 
was  to  affront  them  in  the  sight  of  all  Europe,  and  to 
incur  the  utmost  iU  will  of  the  Spanish  king;  but 
the  Duke  of  Bourbon  decided  upon  this  step  for  rea- 
sons personal  to  himself.  The  infanta  was  only  six 
years  old,  and  a  long  time  must  still  elapse  before 
the  marriage  could  be  consummated;  should  Louis 
die,  leaving  no  son,  the  heir  to  the  throne,  as  by  law 


68  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

established,  was  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  the  person  whom 
Bourbon  most  envied  and  hated.  Moreover  the  Span- 
ish alliance  had  been  a  measure  of  the  regent;  the 
future  queen  would  not  owe  her  elevation  to  Bour- 
bon, and  Spain  would  have  no  interest  in  his  retention 
of  office.  He  wished  to  choose  a  wife  for  the  king 
upon  whose  gratitude  he  could  rely ;  a  queen  with  an 
amiable  character,  a  pliant  disposition,  and  a  grateful 
heart  would  insure  a  continuance  of  favor  to  the  duke 
and  his  mistress. 

He  accordingly  laid  before  the  council  the  dangers 
which  France  might  incur  if  Louis  remained  unmar- 
ried, and  advised  the  immediate  choice  of  a  bride  of 
mature  years.  No  one  ventured  to  oppose  the  wish 
of  the  prime  minister.  Fleury  contented  himself  with 
a  mild  opposition,  and  the  young  king,  who  was  not 
yet  fifteen,  was  perfectly  indifferent  on  the  subject. 
The  infanta  was  returned  to  Spain,  and  her  father 
was  informed  that  the  desire  of  all  good  Frenchmen 
for  a  dauphin  with  all  possible  haste  compelled  Louis 
to  select  another  person  for  his  wife.  Diplomatic  re- 
lations between  the  countries  were  broken  off,  but 
Philip  did  not  allow  his  pique  to  lead  him  to  any 
more  violent  measures.* 

It  was  easy  to  find  some  one  willing  to  be  queen 
of  France,  and  Louis  was  ready  to  accept  any  one 
suggested  by  his  advisers,  but  Bourbon  and  Mme.  de 

'  The  Duke  of  Bourbon  asked  Philip  to  make  the  husband 
of  Mme.  de  Prie  a  grandee,  a  title  which  would  have  descended 
to  a  child  Bourbon  had  by  her.  (See  his  letter  to  Tess^.)  If 
this  request  had  been  granted,  the  infanta  would  probably  not 
have  been  sent  away.  "  *  This  one-eyed  scoundrel,'  said  Philip's 
wife,  with  her  usual  vigor,  '  has  sent  back  our  daughter  because 
the  king  would  not  create  the  husband  of  his  harlot  a  grandee 
of  Spain.'  "    Letter  of  Stanhope. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.        59 

Prie  were  more  difficult  to  please.  A  list  was  pre- 
pared, upon  which  appeared  the  names  of  one  hun- 
dred princesses,  with  a  statement  of  their  physical, 
mental,  and  moral  qualities.^  Bourbon  summarily 
ran  his  pen  through  eighty-three  of  the  names,  as  out 
of  the  question,  and  among  those  rejected  was  the 
one  who  finally  obtained  the  prize.  Of  the  seventeen 
that  were  deemed  worthy  of  discussion,  the  most  eli- 
gible was  the  Princess  Elizabeth  of  Russia,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Peter  the  Great  and  the  future  empress  of  that 
country.  Her  mother,  Cathei'ine  I.,  undismayed  by 
the  prospect  of  ninety-nine  competitors,  declared  that 
in  personal  charms  and  in  the  political  advantages 
which  she  could  offer,  her  daughter  outranked  them 
all.  In  part,  certainly,  her  opinion  was  correct.  Rus- 
sian princesses  did  not  yet  stand  on  the  same  footing 
with  those  of  Austria  or  Spain ;  the  marriage  of  one 
of  them  with  the  king  of  France  would  have  signalized 
the  reception  of  Russia  among  the  civilized  states  of 
the  west,  and  the  choice  of  Elizabeth  would  have 
secured  for  France  the  active  support  of  her  country 
during  haK  a  century.  Catherine  offered  to  make  a 
treaty  of  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  and  to  exert 
the  influence  of  Russia  for  the  choice  of  a  French 
prince  as  king  of  Poland,  if  her  daughter  could  be- 
come queen  of  France.  The  French  ambassador  at 
St.  Petersburg  urged  the  wisdom  of  this  choice,  not 
only  on  political,  but  on  personal  grounds.  "In  Rus- 
sia," he  wrote,  "it  is  an  established  maxim,  that  all 
women,  from  princesses  to  bourgeoises,  have  a  blind 
submission  to  the  wishes  of  their  husbands.  "^ 

1  Aff.  Etr.  Fr.,  314. 

^  Letter  of  Campredon,  April  13,  1725.     All  the  correspond- 
ence in  reference  to  the  proposed  Russian  alliance  is  found  in 


60  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

But  this  match  was  not  to  Bourbon's  taste,  and  he 
gave  little  heed  to  the  advantages  it  might  bring  to 
France,  if  it  would  not  advance  his  own  interests. 
The  low  birth  of  the  mother  of  the  Princess  Eliza- 
beth, he  wrote,  must  be  regarded  as  an  obstacle  to 
her  choice,  and  instead  of  her,  he  recommended  one 
of  his  own  sisters.  As  to  one  of  them,  the  brother 
admitted  that  something  might  be  said  against  her 
figure,  but  the  other  combined  virtue,  wisdom,  and 
grace.  ^  Notwithstanding  her  attractions,  this  alliance 
met  with  opposition.  Fleury  was  not  in  favor  of  it.^ 
It  is  probable  also  that  Mme.  de  Prie  saw  no  advan- 
tage to  herself  in  making  a  queen  of  Bourbon's  sister, 
and  the  voice  of  his  mistress  overcame  his  fraternal 
zeal.  The  plan  was  abandoned,  and  the  throne  of 
France  was  offered  to  a  daughter  of  George  I.,  if  she 
would  consent  to  become  a  Catholic.^  If  George  had 
been  simply  Elector  of  Hanover,  such  a  condition 
would  have  met  with  no  opposition.  Even  when  the 
choice  of  a  faith  was  not  postponed  until  the  choice 
of  a  husband,  the  religion  of  a  daughter  of  a  German 
prince  was  rarely  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  her 
advancement.  But  George  was  on  the  throne  of 
England  as  the  representative  of  Protestantism.  All 
that  kept  the  Stuart  pretender  in  exile  was  his  Ca- 
tholicism ;  if  the  English  people  had  not  regarded  the 
Roman  church  with  fear  and  aversion,  an  ignorant 
and  licentious  Hanoverian  prince  would  not  have  been 

his  letters  at  the  Aff.  Etr.,  Cor.  de  Russie.  The  subject  is  well 
treated  by  Vandal,  Louis  XV.  et  Elisabeth  de  Russie. 

^  Rapport  dn  due  de  Bourbon  au  roi,  Aff.  Etr.  Fr.,  314. 

*  Proces  verbal,  Arch.  Nat. ;  Walpole  to  Newcastle,  March  13, 
1725. 

»  Aff.  Etr.  Angleterre,  1725,  350. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.       61 

their  king;  it  was  impossible  for  his  advisers  to  shock 
the  Protestant  feeling  of  the  country  by  allowing  his 
daughter  to  embrace  the  errors  of  papacy,  and  the 
proposition  was  politely  declined. 

In  this  dilemma  Bourbon,  acting  under  the  advice 
of  Mme.  de  Prie,  suddenly  decided  upon  the  princess 
who  seemed  the  most  unlikely  choice  of  all  those 
whose  names  had  been  suggested.  Stanislaus  Lesz- 
czynski  was  a  Polish  nobleman  who,  by  the  favor  of 
Charles  XII.,  was  elected  to  the  throne  of  Poland. 
The  defeat  of  Charles  at  Pultowa  involved  the  over- 
throw of  his  protege.  Stanislaus  fled  from  his  native 
country,  after  five  years'  experience  in  royalty,  and 
some  time  later  he  found  refuge  and  a  small  pension 
in  France.  There  the  dethroned  king  lived  in  a  very 
modest  way,  given  to  piety,  and  chiefly  interested  in 
finding  an  eligible  husband  for  his  only  daughter. 
The  child  of  a  dethroned  king  of  Poland,  living  on  the 
charity  of  a  friendly  power,  was  not  a  matrimonial 
prize.  Her  father  contemplated  marrying  her  to  a 
French  marquis,  and  was  in  despair  when  the  son  of 
a  German  margrave  declined  to  fulfill  his  engagement. 
It  was  understood  that  the  Duke  of  Bourbon  was  to 
remarry,  and  the  hand  of  the  princess  was  offered  to 
him.  He  showed  no  alacrity  in  accepting  it,  but 
Mme.  de  Prie  decided  that  the  princess  who  had 
sought  in  vain  so  many  inferior  alliances  was  the 
person  to  select  as  the  wife  of  Louis  XV.  himself. 
Her  character  was  known  to  be  mild  and  tractable; 
she  would  owe  a  lifelong  gratitude  to  those  who  had 
elevated  her  from  a  lot  of  obscurity  and  almost  of 
need  to  the  most  brilliant  position  in  Europe.  Ac- 
cordingly a  messenger  was  sent  with  a  demand,  in 
the  name  of  the  king  of  France,  for  the  hand  of  the 


62  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Princess  Marie  Leszczynski.  If  an  angel  had  ap- 
peared at  the  dilapidated  chateau  of  the  exiled  king, 
he  would  have  occasioned  no  more  surprise,  and  have 
been  received  with  no  more  delight.  When  the  ex- 
traordinary news  was  announced,  father,  mother,  and 
daughter  fell  at  once  on  their  knees,  and  thanked  God 
for  his  great  and  unspeakable  mercies. 

The  prospect  seemed  too  good  to  be  true,  and  the 
letters  of  Stanislaus  show  a  nervous  apprehension  lest 
this  vision  of  felicity  should  prove  a  dream.  But 
Bourbon  and  Mme.  de  Prie  persevered  in  their  pro- 
ject, and  Louis  regarded  the  matter  with  indifference. 
A  special  messenger  had  been  sent  to  investigate  the 
merits  and  demerits  of  eligible  princesses,  and  his 
report  on  Marie  Leszczynski  was  highly  favorable. 
Her  nose,  said  the  faithful  agent,  was  long,  but  it 
was  not  large,  nor  red,  nor  hooked,  while  her  com- 
plexion was  so  beautiful  that  fresh  water  was  the  only 
paint  it  required ;  the  princess  rose  at  seven  and  read 
books  of  devotion  and  history ;  at  noon  she  dined  sim- 
ply; and  the  afternoon  she  spent  with  her  mother  and 
grandmother,  engaged  in  needlework  and  in  making 
altar  ornaments  which  she  gave  to  churches.^  Such 
a  person  would  seem  an  ideal  wife  for  a  ritualistic 
clergyman,  but  she  was  chosen  to  be  a  queen. 

This  sudden  grandeur  had  its  inconveniences.  The 
Duke  of  Antin  was  sent  to  make  formal  demand  for 
the  hand  of  the  princess,  and  he  came  accompanied 
by  one  hundred  and  fifty  guards  and  ten  carriages, 
each  drawn  by  eight  horses,  while  Stanislaus  found 
his  few  Polish  followers  quite  inadequate  to  main- 
tain the  dignity  required  in  the  father  of  a  future 
queen;  he  had  to  hire  carriages  for  the  state  pro- 
»  Aff.  Etr.  Fr.,  314. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.        63 

cessions,  and  was  in  great  straits  to  borrow  twelve 
thousand  livres  with  which  to  pay  his  expenses. ^  At 
last  the  princess  was  married  at  the  cathedral  of 
Strasburg,  and  she  met  with  an  enthusiastic  reception 
from  her  new  subjects  as  she  traveled  to  Paris.  She 
described,  with  some  humor,  the  endless  allegorical 
displays  which  greeted  her.  "I  am  constantly  meta- 
morphosed: now  I  am  fairer  than  the  Graces,  and 
then  I  have  the  virtues  of  the  angels;  yesterday  I 
was  the  marvel  of  the  world,  to-day  I  am  a  star  that 
sheds  benign  influences."^ 

Her  journey  would  have  been  more  comfortable 
with  fewer  fetes  and  better  roads.  The  weather  wa? 
rainy,  and  in  those  days  no  royal  pomp  could  over- 
come the  miseries  of  travel  in  bad  weather.  The 
queen's  carriage  stuck  in  the  mud,  and  it  needed 
thirty  horses  to  pull  it  out.  Marie  and  her  suite 
were  drenched,  and  the  peasants  were  ordered  out  to 
assist  in  moving  the  luggage;  the  crops  had  been 
bad,  and  both  men  and  horses  looked  half  starved; 
as  they  worked  in  the  mire  the  new  queen  had  an 
opportunity  to  compare  the  squalor  and  misery  of  the 
people  with  the  splendor  that  awaited  her  at  Ver- 
sailles.^ 

Marie  Leszczynski  was  nearly  seven  years  older 
than  her  husband;  she  was  very  pious,  and  neither 
brilliant  nor  beautiful;  she  played  on  several  instru- 
ments, and  on  all  of  thciu  poorly;  her  voice  was 
sweet,  but  it  was  very  weak  ;  slie  was  fond  of  j)aint- 
ing,  but  could  never  learn  to  draw  correctly;  she  was 

'  Letters  of  Stanislaus  to  Count  of  Bourfr. 
2  Marie   Leszczynski  to  Stanislaus,  published  in  Histoire  du 
lloi  Stanislas. 
•'  Journal  du  Burhier,  September,  1725;  Mem.  dWryetu^on,  i.  53. 


64  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

little  fitted  to  exert  any  permanent  influence  over  the 
man  she  had  married;  she  tried  to  please  him,  and 
only  succeeded  in  boring  him.  The  queen  regarded 
Louis  with  an  affection  that  he  was  incapable  of  re- 
turning. "  One  has  never  loved  as  I  love  him,"  she 
wrote  to  a  friend  of  her  youth.*  During  the  years  of 
humiliation  that  followed,  when  the  king  was  ever 
sinking  deeper  in  vice  and  sensuality,  she  bore  her 
lot  with  dignity.  She  may  have  felt  that  she  would 
have  been  happier  married  to  the  marquis  or  the 
margrave  than  to  the  king  of  France,  yet  she  indulged 
in  no  vain  repining. 

The  selection  of  Marie  Leszczynski  was  injudicious 
from  a  political  standpoint,  but  whether  the  king 
married  a  Spanish  or  a  Polish  princess  really  made 
very  little  difference  to  France.  The  measures  which 
Bourbon  adopted  for  the  treatment  of  French  Protes- 
tants were  more  important  and  far  more  injurious. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XV.  witnessed  the  last  phases 
of  religious  persecution  in  France.  Two  centuries 
had  passed  since  the  great  struggle  began  in  that 
country  between  Catholicism  and  the  reformed  creed ; 
the  unequal  contest  closed  when  Louis  XIV.  deprived 
the  minority  of  their  religious  privileges,  and  a  per- 
sistent effort  was  made  to  crush  dissent.  We  have 
now  to  watch  the  exhibitions  of  the  spirit  which  had 
animated  the  dragonnades,  appearing  half  a  century 
later,  in  an  era  when  the  foundations  of  religious 
belief  were  beginning  to  give  way. 

As  a  result  of  the  measures  taken  by  Louis  XIV., 
the  public  worship  of  the  reformed  churches  was  not 
only  forbidden,  but  for  a  while  it  was  prevented. 
The  great  body  of  Huguenots  conformed  to  ceitain 

'  Marie  Leszczynski  to  Count  of  Bourg,  December  3,  1728. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.       65 

practices  of  Catholicism  in  order  to  avoid  the  fury  of 
persecution ;  their  children  were  baptized  by  priests ; 
on  certain  festivities  they  attended  the  services  of 
the  church.  Even  these  compliances  were  denounced 
as  idolatrous  by  the  more  fervent.  "It  is  said,"  writes 
one  of  the  pastors,  "that  there  are  those  so  faint- 
hearted as  to  have  their  marriages  celebrated  and 
their  children  baptized  in  churches  where  a  piece  of 
dough  is  worshiped  instead  of  the  Creator."^ 

This  formal  submission  had  encouraged  Louis  to 
repeal  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  he  died  in  the  de- 
lusion that  those  who  had  once  been  Huguenots 
were  now,  with  few  exceptions,  faithful  members  of 
the  true  church.  An  edict  published  a  few  months 
before  his  death  declared  his  solemn  conviction. 
"For  seventy-two  years  of  our  reign  we  have  omitted 
nothing  in  our  power  to  draw  from  their  errors  those 
of  our  subjects  who  were  born  in  the  reformed  reli- 
gion, falsely  so  called.  God  has  blessed  our  pious 
intentions  in  the  great  number  who  have  abjured  that 
creed,  and  their  residence  in  our  kingdom  is  sufficient 
proof  that  they  have  embraced  the  Catholic  and  Apos- 
tolic faith.  "2  In  truth,  the  number  of  Protestants 
who  really  became  Catholics  and  nurtured  their  chil- 
dren in  that  faith  was  insignificant;  as  soon  as  the 
vigilance  of  the  government  was  relaxed  they  neg- 
lected the  services  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and,  when 
they  dared,  they  met  in  their  houses  or  in  the  open 
air  for  the  worship  of  their  faith ;  to  use  their  own 
language,  they  prayed  without  ceasing,  and  waited 
for  the  deliverance  of  Zion. 

While  repression  compelled  some  to  a  hypocritical 

^  Rapport  d'Antoiiie  Court. 
2  Ddclaratiou,  March  8,  1715. 


66  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

compliance,  it  rendered  more  intense  the  fervor  of 
others.  The  fear  of  death  and  of  the  galleys  did  not 
deter  the  faithful  from  meeting  together  by  day  and 
by  night,  and  worshiping  God  according  to  their 
own  consciences ;  when  their  churches  were  destroyed, 
the  Huguenots  took  refuge  in  temples  not  made  by 
hands. 

Their  services  resembled  those  of  the  Scotch  Cove- 
nanters :  they  gathered  amid  the  hills ;  sometimes  the 
rain  fell  in  torrents,  but  it  did  not  disperse  the  assem- 
blage ;  at  night,  torches  lit  up  the  faces  of  the  faith- 
ful, listening  to  the  discourse  of  the  preacher,  or  sing- 
ing psalms  amid  the  wilderness.^  "Where  have  you 
preached?  "  asked  the  judge  of  Alexander  Houssel, 
one  of  these  itinerant  ministers.  "Wherever  I  have 
found  Christians  gathered  together,"  was  the  reply. 
"Where  has  been  your  domicile?"  "Under  the 
vault  of  Heaven." 

0 

This  fervent  zeal  sometimes  became  fanatical,  and 
amid  the  wastes  of  the  Cevennes  in  the  early  part  of 
the  century  religious  enthusiasm  turned  into  frenzy. 
Half -wild  mountaineers  saw  visions  and  dreamed 
dreams;  the  gifts  of  prophecy  and  of  tongues  de- 
scended upon  many ;  a  child  of  thirteen  months  bade 
its  parents  do  works  meet  for  repentance;  infants 
babbled  prophecy;  boys  of  twelve  and  fifteen  were 
seized  by  sudden  inspiration  and  addressed  assemblies 
in  long  and  fervent  exhortations ;  men  fell  down  and 
rolled  on  the  ground  in  their  struggle  with  the  Evil 
One.  The  patois  of  these  districts  was  so  diiferent 
from  the  language  tallced  at  Paris  that  it  was  noticed 
as  miraculous  that  those  possessed  by  the  spirit  spoke 
in  correct  French.  In  Languedoc,  it  was  said  there 
'  Lettrc  de  Court,  uiiuist^re  dii  desert,  1728. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.        07 

were  as  many  as  eight  thousand  persons  filled  with 
the  spirit  of  prophecy.  The  exhorters  were  generally 
men  of  very  hmnble  lot,  filled  with  sudden  religious 
zeal,  rather  than  fitted  by  study  for  the  duties  of  the 
ministry;  they  were  weavers,  carders,  day  laborers, 
some  of  whom  could  neither  read  nor  write. 

The  Camisards,  by  which  name  the  Protestants  of 
the  Cevennes  were  called,  organized  under  the  com- 
mand of  leaders  possessing  military  skill  as  well  as 
fanaticism,  and  an  armed  theocracy  was  established 
among  these  barren  and  desolate  hills.  For  the  most 
part,  the  Huguenots  resembled  the  Puritans  in  a 
grave  sobriety  of  dress,  but  the  Camisard  captains 
arrayed  themselves  in  velvet  mantles  of  crimson  and 
scarlet,  plumes  floated  from  their  hats,  and  swords 
with  golden  hilts  were  at  their  sides.  Yet  if  their 
dress  was  that  of  the  cavalier,  their  conduct  was  that 
of  the  Puritan ;  feasting  or  fighting,  walking  or  rest- 
ing, they  prayed  and  praised  God.^  This  religious 
excitement  developed  into  rebellion  in  the  later  years 
of  Louis  XIV. 's  reign,  and  the  government  found 
the  task  of  suppressing  the  fanatics  by  no  means  an 
easy  one;  by  compromise  as  much  as  by  coercion  the 
troubles  wei'e  at  last  quieted.^  From  the  regency  of 
Orleans  the  oppressed  religionists  hoped  for  a  larger 
measure  of  toleration.  The  regent  would  gladly  have 
accorded  it,  but  he  was  restrained  by  tlie  indolence  of 
his  eliaracter,  and  by  his  unwillingness  to  give  offense 

1  Theatre  sacre  des  Cevennes,  a  curious  collection  of  supposed 
instances  of  supernatural  manifestations,  published  in  1707. 

2  Theatre  sacre ;  Histoire  des  troubles  des  Cevennes,  by  Court ; 
correspondence  of  the  superintendents ;  and  Memoires  de  Berwirk 
et  de  Villars.  Tlie  insurrection  of  the  Camisards  is  fully  treated 
in  Professor  Riird's  valuable  work,  The  Huguenots  and  the  Revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 


68  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

to  the  Jesuit  party  and  the  friends  of  the  late  king ; 
they  might  condone  the  orgies  of  the  Palais  Royal,  but 
he  knew  they  wovdd  never  forgive  the  toleration  of  Hu- 
guenots. Still  their  condition  improved ;  the  favor  of 
the  court  could  no  longer  be  gained  by  executing  a 
minister  or  dispersing  an  assembly,  and  the  zeal  of 
the  ofl&cers  of  the  government  in  the  work  of  persecu- 
tion flagged.  Under  the  lead  of  some  devoted  men 
the  Protestant  party  in  France  was  again  organized; 
though  the  services  of  their  religion  were  forbidden, 
under  the  penalty  of  death,  the  Reformed  Church 
steadily  increased  in  strength  until  at  last,  seventy 
years  later,  it  was  again  granted  religious  freedom. 
Those  engaged  in  the  work  of  reorganization  met 
with  twofold  difficulties.  The  long  repression  under 
Louis  XIV.  had  not  destroyed  the  Protestant  faith 
in  France,  but  its  adherents  were  bound  together  with 
no  formal  tie,  and  many  of  them  had  sought  tranquil- 
lity by  a  nominal  profession  of  Catholicism.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  excesses  of  the  Camisards  were  not  in 
harmony  with  the  stem  and  sober  theology  of  the 
Huguenot  creed;  such  men  as  Antoine  Court  desired 
neither  prophets  in  trances  nor  infants  exhorting  from 
the  cradle.  The  synod  which  met  in  1715  gave  no 
encouragement  to  these  vagaries ;  it  adopted  measures 
which  were  judicious,  and  some  of  which  may  justly 
be  called  humane.  Many  of  these  enthusiastic  ex- 
horters  hjul  preached  for  three  and  four  hours  at  a 
time,  but  the  synod  laid  down  as  a  rule  that  no  ser- 
mon should  last  more  than  an  hour  and  a  quarter. 
In  those  heroic  days  this  allowance  of  time  seemed 
moderate  to  the  liearers  as  well  as  to  preachers. 

In  other  regulations,  the  French  Ilugiienots  showed 
close   sympathy    with   the    English    Puritans;    their 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.       69 

synods  denounced  with  equal  severity  oaths  and 
games,  dancing  and  dancing-masters. 

It  was  necessary  to  have  a  ministry  educated  for 
the  work  of  exhortation  and  discipline,  but  who  would 
desire  a  mission  of"  which  the  pains  and  toils  were 
incalculable,  where  neither  wealth  nor  worldly  honor 
were  to  be  gained,  and  where  the  reward  of  years  of 
hardship  might  be  an  ignominious  death  as  a  male- 
factor? "We  want,  for  the  ministry,"  said  Antoino 
Court,  "  young  men  with  a  taste  for  martyrdom." 
They  were  always  found.  No  good  cause  and  hardly 
any  bad  cause  has  ever  lacked  followers  willing  to 
become  martyrs. 

The  laws  enacted  by  bigotry  were  slowly  falling 
into  desuetude;  the  French  people  were  weary  of 
seeing  men  sent  to  the  galleys  because  they  thought 
the  theology  of  Calvin  better  than  that  of  Thomas 
Aquinas,  and  the  chapter  of  persecution  in  France  in 
the  last  century  would  probably  have  been  a  short 
one,  if  the  Duke  of  Bourbon  had  not  infused  new  life 
into  ancient  error;  the  edict  which  he  issued  was  the 
worst  measure  of  his  administration,  and  that  is  say- 
ing much. 

There  had  always  been  those  who  advocated  rigor 
in  the  treatment  of  the  Protestants  and  complained 
that  the  laws  against  them  were  in  large  part  allowed 
to  become  a  dead  letter.  Prominent  among  these 
advocates  of  intolerance  was  Lavergne  de  Tresson, 
the  bishop  of  Nantes,  an  ecclesiastic  who  was  said 
to  have  accumulated  seventy-six  benefices,  and  who 
hoped  to  round  out  his  career  by  receiving  a  cardi- 
nal's hat  as  a  reward  for  sending  Huguenots  to  tlie 
galleys.  This  ambitious  and  unscrupulous  priest  had 
argued  with  Orleans  and  Dubois  in  favor  of  severe 


70  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

measures  against  the  Protestants,  but  from  neither 
did  he  receive  any  encouragement.  Those  statesmen 
were  not  disturbed  by  religious  convictions,  and  they 
did  not  seek  to  feign  a  religious  zeal  which  should 
take  the  form  of  persecution.  But  in  Bourbon  the 
bishop  found  a  minister  whose  intelligence  was  narrow 
and  whose  heart  was  malevolent,  and  he  now  obtained 
permission  to  carry  his  plans  into  effect.  Notwith- 
standing the  disasters  of  the  late  years  of  Louis 
XIV.,  he  was  still  the  great  king,  and  during  all  the 
reign  of  his  successor,  the  government  tried  to  cover 
its  measures  under  that  majestic  shade.  In  May, 
1724,  an  edict  declared  that  nothing  in  the  policy  of 
the  late  king  was  more  worthy  of  imitation  than  the 
measures  he  had  adopted  for  the  extinction  of  heresy ; 
the  punishment  of  death  was  accordingly  denounced 
against  any  one  who  performed  the  functions  of  a 
minister  of  the  reformed  faith ;  the  property  of  men 
who  attended  any  of  its  services  was  to  be  confiscated, 
and  they  were  to  be  sent  to  the  galleys,  while  women 
thus  offending  were  to  be  imprisoned  for  life.  A 
multiplicity  of  other  regulations  of  equal  ferocity  were 
intended  to  force  unwilling  subjects  to  conform  to  the 
practices  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  to  educate  their 
children  in  that  faith. 

In  all  these  barbarous  provisions  there  was  nothing 
new;  the  edict  was  a  reenactment  of  the  code  of  per- 
secution under  Louis  XIV.,  and  its  penalties  were 
already  on  the  statute  book.  But  the  rigorous  en- 
forcement of  these  laws  had  long  been  relaxed ;  forty 
years  had  passed  since  the  dragonnades,  and  the 
French  people  were  weary  of  religious  oppression. 
New  ideas  had  nKKlorated  the  intense  Catholicism 
of  the  last  century ;  these  measures  of  bigotry  were 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.        71 

reenacted  when  Voltaire  had  already  become  a  popu- 
lar writer,  when  the  "Persian  Letters"  of  Montes- 
quieu were  eagerly  read,  and  years  after  the  writings 
of  Bayle  had  begun  to  exert  their  dissolving  influence 
on  French  beliefs.  The  edict  of  1724  was  followed 
by  no  such  active  measures  as  had  been  witnessed 
under  the  ministry  of  Louvois.  If  Bourbon  was 
equally  bigoted,  he  was  less  vigorous.  Moreover,  so 
great  had  been  the  change  in  public  feeling  that  it 
was  now  impossible  to  enforce  a  systematic  religious 
persecution  in  France.  In  1685,  the  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes  had  been  greeted  with  enthusiasm; 
in  1724,  the  effort  to  compel  uniformity  of  belief 
was  received  with  indifference.  Innocent  blood  was 
shed  by  rulers  without  morality  at  the  instigation 
of  priests  without  religion,  but  instead  of  perfecting 
the  work  of  *Louis  XIV.,  and  exterminating  heresy 
in  France,  these  renewed  efforts  resulted  in  entire 
failure.  The  cause  of  dissent  waxed  rather  than 
waned  during  the  eighteenth  century;  the  attempts 
at  persecution  were  just  enough  to  stimulate  and  not 
enough  to  intimidate.  They  excited  little  comment 
at  the  time,  and  have  received  little  notice  from  his- 
torians. 

While  the  number  was  small  of  those  who  suffered 
in  body  or  estate  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  on 
account  of  their  religious  beliefs,  the  treatment  of  the 
Protestants  must  not  be  disregarded  among  the  causes 
which  involved  the  old  regime  in  a  sanguinary  over- 
throw. The  influence  of  the  Protestant  population  of 
France  during  this  century  was  lost;  it  might  have 
been  important.  They  formed,  indeed,  a  small  minor- 
ity, but  they  were  men  of  strong  convictions  and  reso- 
lute purpose ;  though  a  tendency  towards  republican- 


72  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

ism  miglit  have  developed  among  such  a  body,  yet 
the  Huguenots  could  always  have  been  counted  upon 
in  favor  of  orderly  government,  of  religious  institu- 
tions, of  liberty  and  not  of  license.  They  would  not 
have  been  ensnared  by  the  sophisms  of  Rousseau ;  if 
they  believed  the  Catholic  Church  to  be  the  Scarlet 
Woman,  they  would  not  have  worshiped  the  Goddess 
of  Reason.  But  the  Protestants  were  kept  under  the 
ban  of  the  law  until  just  before  the  Revolution,  and 
even  if  active  persecution  ceased,  they  exercised  no 
influence  on  public  thought. 

The  untimely  oppression  of  this  class  brought  fur- 
ther evil  upon  the  state.  The  Gallican  Church  had 
occupied  an  imposing  position  during  the  seventeenth 
century;  it  produced  great  men;  great  institutions 
of  charity  and  of  learning  were  organized  and  fos- 
tered under  its  charge.  When  a  time  came  which 
threatened  its  overthrow,  when  it  was  attacked  by 
philosophers,  and  jeered  at  by  scoffers,  its  energies 
were  absorbed  in  wrangling  and  persecution.  The 
clergy  who  obtained  prominence  in  such  issues  were 
narrow  and  bigoted,  even  when  they  were  not  irreli- 
gious. Jansenists  were  put  out  of  the  pale  because 
they  were  in  error  on  the  doctrines  of  free  will; 
Huguenots  were  sent  to  the  galleys  because  they  held 
erroneous  views  about  the  mass ;  and  this  was  done 
when  the  church,  like  the  state,  was  tottering  to  its 
fall ;  if  it  had  not  been  for  bigoted  priests  and  im- 
becile statesmen,  the  history  of  the  French  Revolution 
would  have  been  different. 

The  persecution  which  followed  the  edict  of  1724 
was  sporadic,  but  it  furnished  the  usual  phases  of 
odious  cruelty  and  of  heroic  resistance.  In  forty 
years  eight  ministers  were  executed  for  preaching  the 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.       73 

truth  as  they  understood  it.^  If  the  officials  had  been 
active  in  the  work,  this  number  would  have  been 
largely  increased.  Sixteen  ministers  had  been  put  to 
death  in  Languedoc  alone  by  the  ferocious  Baville 
from  1686  to  1698,  and  the  decrease  in  the  number 
of  executions  was  not  because  the  public  services  of 
the  Kef ormed  Church  were  less  frequently  held ;  the 
reverse  was  the  case;  in  1744,  ten  thousand  people 
gathered  to  hear  the  preaching  of  Antoine  Court, 
while  thirty  years  before,  only  fifty  or  one  hundred  of 
the  faithful  had  dared  to  show  themselves  at  such 
assemblies.  The  crop  was  abundant,  but  the  arm  of 
the  reaper  was  slack. 

It  was  in  1745  that  the  minister  Roger,  one  of  the 
oldest  workers  among  the  pastors  of  the  desert,  was 
at  last  arrested.  "It  is  time  you  found  me,"  he  said; 
"you  have  been  looking  for  me  for  thirty -nine  years." 
"At  last  the  happy  day  has  come  which  I  have  so 
long  desired !  "  he  exclaimed,  as  he  mounted  the  scaf- 
fold. Another  pastor,  the  young  Alexander  Kamsey, 
was  condemned  to  death,  but  he  escaped  his  pursuers, 
and  for  fifty  years  continued  his  ministrations  in 
Dauphine. 

The  fear  of  death  rarely  intimidated  a  clergy  which 
was  trained  to  martyrdom,  yet  two  of  them  recanted 
at  the  sight  of  the  scaffold.  Both  found  the  remorse 
for  such  an  act  worse  than  death.  One  fled  to  Hol- 
land after  his  release  and  again  professed  his  faith, 
but  nothing  in  the  eyes  of  such  a  man  could  atone  for 
having  denied  the  Lord  in  the  hour  of  peril.  A  per- 
son who  knew  him  well  twenty -five  years  later  has 
described  his  appearance.  The  minister  was  then 
very  old,  but  his  face  had  an  habitual  expression  of 

*  List  given  by  Antoine  Court,  Le  patriate  fran^ais. 


74  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

despair,  his  head  was  sunk  on  his  shoulders  as  if  in 
shame,  and  he  wearied  his  friends  by  constantly  refer- 
ring to  the  awful  day  when  he  had  been  false  to  the 
faith,  and  by  demanding  whether  the  Lord  would 
forgive  one  who  had  denied  Him  before  men ;  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  of  repentance  seemed  too  short  to 
atone  for  such  a  crime.  ^ 

Most  of  the  pastors  of  the  desert  performed  their 
ministrations  for  a  lifetime  and  escaped  punishment, 
and  their  followers  were  equally  fortunate.  The  zeal 
of  the  persecutors  found  no  encouragement  from  the 
pacific  Fleury ;  in  1745,  there  was  a  short  season  of 
increased  rigor,  but  the  entire  number  of  men  and 
women  imprisoned  or  sent  to  the  galleys  for  religious 
offenses  during  the  forty  years  following  the  edict 
of  1724  was  probably  less  than  two  thousand.^  It 
was  too  small  to  check  the  progress  of  dissent,  and 
quite  large  enough  to  be  a  blot  on  the  history  of  the 
period. 

The  penalties  that  were  enforced  were  often  of  re- 
volting severity.  One  man,  seventy-six  years  of  age, 
was  sent  to  the  galleys  for  life  for  having  attended  a 
Huguenot  service.^  In  1769,  a  man  of  eighty-three 
was  still  in  the  galleys,  where  he  had  passed  twenty- 
five  years  for  furnishing  refuge  to  a  Protestant  pastor ; 

*  Feuille  religieuse,  cited  by  Coquerel. 

*  From  1745  to  1752,  one  hundred  and  sixteen  Protestants 
were  condemned  to  the  galleys  by  the  Parliament  of  Grenoble. 
Mem.  Hist.,  1744-52.  But  this  was  a  period  of  unusual  actirity, 
and  Coquerel  estimates  that  on  an  average  not  over  a  third  of 
the  punishments  imposed  were  carried  into  execution.  The 
number  of  Protestants  in  the  galleys  at  Toulon  in  1753  was  only 
forty-eight,  and  there  the  most  of  those  confined  for  religious 
offenses  were  stationed. 

»  See  his  letter  of  September,  1753,  written  from  the  galleys. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.        75 

a  lady  was  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  six  thousand  livres 
and  to  three  years  of  imprisonment,  because  she  spoke 
words  of  encouragement  to  a  Protestant  on  his  death- 
bed. In  the  list  of  Protestants  serving  in  the  galleys 
at  Toulon  in  1753,  we  find  one  who  had  been  con- 
demned for  life  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  who  had  i 
already  served  thirteen  years.  Forty-eight  Hugue-  \ 
nots  were  then  serving  terms  at  that  place  ;  in 
1759,  the  number  had  fallen  to  forty-one;  in  1769, 
one  of  the  last  victims  was  released  at  the  age  of 
eighty,  after  twenty-seven  years  passed  in  the  gal- 
leys.^ 

Among  all  these  sufferers  for  conscience'  sake,  the 
lot  of  the  unhappy  women  imprisoned  in  the  tower 
of  Constance,  at  Aigues  Mortes,  has  excited  most 
compassion.  The  city  of  Aigues  Mortes  is  one  of 
the  most  ancient  and  curious  in  France.  Louis  IX. 
purchased  it  from  the  abbey  to  which  it  belonged, 
and  from  this  port  the  Crusaders  sailed  under  the 
command  of  the  saintly  king  to  the  rescue  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre.  The  ancient  walls  still  inclose  this 
dead  city,  which  commerce  deserted  centuries  ago, 
and  which  now  stands  drear  and  abandoned,  sur- 
rounded by  long  expanses  of  salt  marsh,  and  looking 
upon  one  of  the  most  desolate  views  that  the  world 
affords.  Among  other  improvements  St.  Louis  re- 
built the  great  tower  at  the  corner  of  the  fortifica- 
tions, from  which  the  citizens  had  formerly  watched 
for  Saracen  corsairs,  and  it  received  the  name  of  the 
tower  of  Constance.  Its  proportions  were  imposing: 
the  walls  rose  over  110  feet  in  height,  and  were 
18  feet  in  thickness.  This  desolate  and  gloomy 
tower,  no  longer  valuable  for  commerce  or  warfare, 
^  Lists  published  in  Coquerel,  ii.  427. 


76  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

the  government,  in  1717,  began  to  use  as  a  prison  for 
Hugruenot  women  incarcerated  for  disobedience  to  the 
edicts  against  their  faith.  The  prison  consisted  of 
two  large,  round  halls,  one  above  the  other;  the  lower 
one  received  its  light  from  above  by  a  hole  about  six 
feet  in  diameter,  and  this  also  served  to  carry  off  the 
smoke ;  the  upper  hall  was  lighted  by  a  similar  open- 
ing into  a  terrace  which  formed  the  roof;  these  were 
the  only  openings  for  air  and  light,  and  they  let  in 
also  both  rain  and  wind;  the  beds  were  placed  around 
the  haUs,  and  in  the  centre  the  fires  were  made.^  In 
this  gloomy  habitation  women  passed  long  lives  of 
misery,  in  need,  in  darkness,  in  discomfort,  listening 
to  the  distant  sound  of  the  waves  and  to  the  howl- 
ing of  the  wind  over  the  marshes,  and  waiting  for 
the  day  of  deliverance,  which  came  not.  In  1737, 
twenty-two  were  there  confined,  and  the  number  of 
inmates  did  not  vary  largely  during  half  a  century.^ 
In  1754,  one  woman  had  been  imprisoned  for  thirty- 
five  years,  and  one  for  thirty-one  years.  Fourteen  of 
the  twenty-five  were  over  sixty,  and  twelve  had  been 
in  prison  for  more  than  fifteen  years.  The  crime  of 
having  attended  the  service  of  the  Huguenot  church 
was  usually  that  for  which  they  were  sentenced  to  life 
imprisonment. 

The  letters  of  one  of  the  prisoners,  Marie  Du- 
rand,  have  been  preserved,  and  they  throw  a  curious 
light  on  the  character  of  these  obscure  but  heroic  con- 
fessors. She  was  arrested  when  fifteen  for  attend- 
ing a  Huguenot  assembly  with  her  mother,  and  for 
this  offense  she  remained  in  prison  thirty-nine  years. 

»  Description  by  Boissy  d'Anglas,  who  visited  the  tower  in 
1763. 
*  See  lists  of  prisoners  made  by  Marie  Durand  and  others. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.        11 

The  treatment  accorded  her  and  her  fellow  sufferers 
illustrates  the  unconcern  with  which  a  decaying  sys- 
tem of  persecution  was  administered.  These  women 
were  confined  because  the  government  was  trying  to 
make  Catholics  out  of  Protestants,  yet  once  in  prison, 
they  were  allowed  to  pray  and  praise  God  according 
to  their  own  fashion;  no  effort  was  made  for  their 
conversion;  they  corresponded  freely  with  their  pas- 
tors, and  received  from  them  religious  counsel  and 
exhortation ;  nominally  their  property  was  confiscated 
to  the  state,  but  the  government  officials  administered 
it  for  the  benefit  of  the  prisoners,  and  gave  them  the 
revenues.^  Still  they  were  not  released,  for  that  re- 
quired some  act  of  vigor,  some  positive  departure 
from  codes  and  creeds  in  which  few  believed,  but 
which  all  continued  to  enforce.  No  one  dared  to 
touch  the  crumbling  fabric  of  barbaric  laws;  these 
unfortunate  women  did  not  excite  the  attention  of  the 
philosophers;  no  storm  of  indignation  disturbed  the 
government  as  to  the  inmates  of  the  tower  of  Con- 
stance; the  prisoners  languished  in  prison,  as  did 
some  in  the  Bastille,  not  because  any  one  was  anxious 
to  keep  them  in,  but  because  no  one  troubled  himself 
to  get  them  out. 

To  the  humanity  of  the  Prince  of  Beauvau  the  most 
of  these  women  at  last  owed  their  deliverance.  In 
1768,  he  visited  the  tower,  accompanied  by  the  Chev- 
alier of  Boufflers.  His  companion  writes  that  after 
mounting  by  dark  and  obscure  staircases,  they  reached 
the  prison.     "We  saw,"  he  says,  "a  great  hall,  de- 

1  This  curious  fact  appears  from  the  correspondence  of  Marie 
Durand  with  her  pastor.  She  was  greatly  annoyed  by  the  in- 
efficient manner  in  which,  in  her  opinion^  her  property  was 
managed. 


78  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

prived  of  light  and  air,  and  in  it  fourteen  women 
languishing  in  misery  and  tears.  The  commandant 
could  not  contain  his  emotion ;  for  the  first  time  these 
unhappy  women  saw  compassion  on  a  human  face; 
they  fell  at  his  feet,  bathed  them  in  tears,  and  told  of 
their  sufferings.  Alas,  their  only  crime  was  to  have 
been  bred  in  the  same  faith  as  Henry  IV.  The 
youngest  of  these  martyrs  was  fifty  years  of  age."^ 
They  were  soon  released,  but  even  as  late  as  this  the 
cause  of  bigotry  found  spokesmen.  Beauvau  was  re- 
proached for  his  humanity  by  one  of  the  ministers  of 
Louis  XV.,  and  some  priests  cried  out  at  this  act  of 
mercy.  But  the  time  for  such  things  was  past,  and 
no  efforts  of  a  few  bigots  could  revive  an  era  of  per- 
secution ;  the  Protestants  enjoyed  a  practical  tolera- 
tion for  quarter  of  a  century  before  the  law  secured 
them  a  legal  toleration. 

The  persecution  of  the  Huguenots  was  injurious  to 
France,  but  it  would  not  have  shortened  Bourbon's 
tenure  of  office.  His  financial  measures,  though  less 
blameworthy,  aroused  more  clamor  and  excited  more 
discontent.  The  financial  policy  of  the  administra- 
tion was  under  the  charge  of  a  man  by  no  means  lack- 
ing in  capacity,  and  whose  career  showed  that  persons 

*  Description  by  Chevalier  of  Boufflers,  Coquerel,  i.  524.  The 
authorities  fur  the  treatment  of  the  Huguenots  in  the  last  century 
are  found  in  Theatre  sacre  des  Cevennes,  Histoire  des  troubles  des 
Cevennes,  by  Court,  Le  franfais  patriate,  Muse  historique,  etc., 
and  the  numerous  papers  published  by  the  French  Protestant 
Society.  The  most  valuable  work  is  Coquerel's  Histoire  des 
dglises  du  desert,  for  it  is  founded  upon*  original  documents  and 
correspondence.  The  official  correspondence  of  the  Count  of 
St.  Florentin,  who  for  twenty-five  years  had  charge  of  the  affairs 
of  the  Protestants  in  the  Aff.  Etr.,  contains  a  history  of  most  of 
their  troubles  from  the  standpoint  of  the  government. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.        79 

of  the  very  humblest  origin  could  sometimes  attain 
wealth  and  power  under  the  old  regime.  The  Paris 
brothers  were  the  sons  of  a  man  who  kept  a  little  hos- 
telry in  a  desolate  district  near  the  Alps.  When 
travelers  came  that  way,  which  was  not  often,  the 
four  sons  groomed  the  horses  of  the  guest,  made  the 
beds,  and  pocketed  with  gratitude  the  occasional  pour- 
boires.  Chance  led  an  army  provisioner  to  ask  their 
aid  in  collecting  supplies  at  a  time  of  special  need ; 
they  showed  such  energy  and  intelligence  that  he 
retained  them  in  his  employ,  and  in  time  they  them- 
selves became  government  contractors.  Dealing  with 
the  state  furnished  almost  the  only  opportunity  for 
the  acquisition  of  large  wealth;  the  great  French  for- 
tunes of  the  period,  with  few  exceptions,  were  made 
from  government  contracts,  or  from  farms  of  the 
taxes.  The  Paris  brothers  had  both;  they  became 
rich;  they  became  influential;  ministers  desired  their 
assistance  and  listened  to  their  advice;  courtiers 
treated  them  with  deference;  even  the  royal  mis- 
tresses did  not  disdain  their  good  offices:  for  over 
fifty  years  they  exercised  a  large  influence  in  the 
finances  and  the  policy  of  the  country.^  Paris  Du- 
verney,  the  ablest  of  the  brothers,  secured  the  favor 
of  Mme.  de  Prie,  and  became  Bourbon's  financial 
adviser.  The  measures  he  adopted  were  not  success- 
ful, but  their  failure  was  not  altogether  the  fault  of 
the  projector. 

The  duke  began  with  repealing  various  taxes  im- 
posed by  his  predecessor,  in  order  to  impress  upon 
the  public  the  advantages  they  had  gained  by  the 
change.  This  would  have  been  well,  but  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  government  soon  compelled  the  establish' 
'  St.  Simon,  pas. ;  Barbier,  i.  219. 


80  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

mcnt  of  new  duties,  and  these  were  received  with  in- 
dignant protest.  A  tax  of  two  per  cent,  was  imposed 
on  all  incomes,  and  also  on  all  crops  payable  in 
kind.i  The  mode  of  payment  was  ill  advised,  but 
the  law  itself  was  neither  unjust  nor  injudicious; 
unlike  most  taxes,  this  fell  upon  all,  and  not  alone 
upon  those  who  were  already  overburdened.  It  was 
greeted  with  an  immense  clamor  from  the  poor  who 
wished  to  pay  no  more,  and  from  the  rich  who  did 
not  wish  to  pay  at  all,  and  amidst  all  the  voices  of 
protest,  that  of  the  clergy  was  heard  with  especial 
shrillness. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  accurately  what  propor- 
tion the  church  owned  of  the  entire  property  of  the 
kingdom;  it  was  probably  as  much  as  one  quarter, 
and  aU  this  wealth  practically  escaped  taxation.^ 
The  general  assembly  did  indeed  vote  a  free  -  will 
offering  to  the  support  of  the  king,  yet  the  amount 
was  trifling  in  comparison  with  their  just  proportion 
of  the  public  burdens.  They  were  subject  also  to 
some  forms  of  indirect  taxation,  yet  we  can  safely  say 
that  one  half  of  what  the  peasant  earned  by  his  labor 
was  absorbed  by  the  charges  of  the  government,  while 
the  entire  contribution  of  the  clergy  was  not  three  per 
cent,  of  their  income. 

The  Gallican  Church  now  unanimously  protested 
against  the  attempt  to  subject  its  property  to  the  im- 
position of  the  fiftieth ;  the  bishops  threatened  excom- 
munication ;  the  general  assembly  remonstrated  against 
tjiking  for  secular  pui-poses  the  money  that  was  needed 

*  Declaration,  June  5,  1725. 

'  Tlie  VeiH^tiiin  :iiiiba8.siulor  then  at  Paris  estimated  tliat  one 
thirfl  of  tlie  national  wealth  was  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy. 
MSS.  Bib.  Nat. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.       81 

to  furnish  a  livelihood  to  Christ's  ministers,  and  to 
soothe  the  sorrows  of  the  poor.^  If  this  had  been  the 
case,  the  exemption  would  have  rankled  less  in  the 
minds  of  those  whose  burdens  were  thereby  in- 
creased; but  such  an  assertion  at  this  time  was  almost 
a  travesty  on  the  facts.  The  most  of  the  inferior 
clergy  were  indeed  poorly  and  insufficiently  paid ;  but 
the  wealth  of  the  great  ecclesiastics  was  enormous; 
when  a  bishop  lived  like  a  wealthy  duke,  and  an  arch- 
bishop emulated  the  splendor  of  a  prince  of  the  blood, 
to  talk  of  exempting  their  incomes  from  taxation  be- 
cause they  were  needed  to  soothe  the  sorrows  of  the 
poor  seemed  like  a  sorry  jest. 

The  attempt  to  subject  church  property  to  this  im- 
post was,  however,  abandoned;  privilege  was  the 
essence  of  the  old  regime;  not  only  were  the  protests 
of  the  clergy  respected,  but  their  rights  were  again 
solemnly  proclaimed.  An  edict  issued  in  October, 
1726,  declared  that  the  property  of  the  church  was 
consecrated  to  God,  and  could  never  be  subjected  to 
any  tax  or  imposition  whatever. ^  Both  clergy  and 
nobility  were  successful  in  resisting  the  efforts  made 
during  the  century  to  deprive  them  of  privileges 
which  had  become  odious,  but  such  victories  proved 
costly  in  the  end.  * 

The  other  financial  experiments  of  Bourbon's  gov- 
ernment were  equally  unsuccessful.  The  value  of  the 
livre  had  been  greatly  reduced  during  the  speculations 
of  the  regency,  and  Paris  Duverney  now  endeavored 
to  restore  it  to  its  former  value.  Though  something 
could  be  said  in  defense  of  such  a  measure,  a  change 
in  the  nominal  value  of  the  currency  was  attended 

1  LHs.  Ven.,  214,  362  et  pas. 

*  Declaration,  October  8,  1726  ;  Anc.  loisfran.,  21,  301. 


82  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

with  disarrangement  of  business  and  suffering  in  the 
community. 

These  frequent  changes  of  nominal  values  were  less 
ruinous  than  we  might  suppose;  little  business  was 
done  on  credit;  as  there  was  little  confidence,  there 
was  less  possibility  of  creating  a  lack  of  confidence. 
Moreover  there  was  always  in  circidation  a  large  num- 
ber of  old  coins  and  foreign  pieces,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent affairs  on  the  smaller  scale  of  those  days  could 
be  carried  on  with  them;  shopkeepers  and  peasants 
continued  to  bargain  in  Spanish  doubloons  or  the  silver 
pieces  of  Louis  XIII.,  without  regard  to  the  value  of 
the  livre  as  fixed  by  the  latest  edict.  Yet  this  trifling 
with  the  medium  of  exchange  was  injurious  in  its 
results,  and  it  had  much  to  do  with  preventing  any 
large  growth  of  business  and  wealth.  The  French 
currency  at  last  reached  a  stable  basis  under  Fleury, 
and  to  this,  more  than  to  any  other  one  cause,  is  due 
the  commercial  development  which  France  witnessed 
later  in  the  century. 

A  widespread  discontent  was  caused  by  Bourbon's 
measures;  there  were  risings  against  the  new  taxes  in 
many  of  the  provinces;  the  condition  of  Normandy 
was  exceptionally  wretched,  and  riots  were  frequent; 
the  parliament  of  BMttany  besought  the  king  in  his 
mercy  to  save  the  province  from  ruin ;  in  Paris,  bread 
and  meat  were  scarce,  and  the  prices  were  alarmingly 
high.  ^  C 

The  changes  made  in  the  currency  furnished  abun^ 
dant  pretext  for  grievances,  and  some  of  the  quarrels 
of  workmen  with  their  employers  assumed,  feafures 
that  are  familiar  in  modern  strikes.  Four  thousand 
workers  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  stockings  nt 
Paris  refused  to  accept  a  reduction  in  their  nominal 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.        83 

wages,  though  the  new  livre  possessed  a  greater  value 
than  the  old ;  those  who  continued  work  were  assaulted 
and  beaten;  a  fund  was  raised  from  which  a  crown 
a  day  was  given  to  each  man  out  of  employment ;  the 
strikers  organized  themselves  into  a  body,  with  officers 
to  oversee  the  distribution  of  the  money,  and  to  attend 
to  the  interests  of  their  cause.  The  action  of  the 
government  was  less  modern  ;  the  comptroller  general 
decided  that  such  conduct  was  illegal ;  and  a  dozen 
of  the  leaders  were  at  once  arrested,  put  in  prison, 
and  there  kept  on  bread  and  water. ^ 

A  new  institution  illustrated  in  another  way  the 
approach  to  modern  forms  of  business.  In  1724,  the 
Bourse  of  Paris  was  organized.^  The  transactions  of 
the  Eue  Quincampoix  during  the  Mississippi  excite- 
ment had  foreshadowed  modern  speculation,  indus- 
trial development  in  France  demanded  some  place 
where  property  coidd  be  conveniently  sold  and  trans- 
ferred, and  the  government  recognized  the  propriety 
of  placing  this  under  the  protection  of  the  state.  The 
site  for  the  Bourse  was  chosen  in  the  Rue  Vivienne, 
where  it  still  remains,  and  many  of  the  regulations 
have  suffered  no  radical  alteration  in  a  century  and 
a  half.  Sixty  brokers  were  licensed  to  buy  and  sell 
commercial  paper  and  other  securities,  their  hours 
were  fixed  from  ten  to  one,  and  their  commissions 
were  established  at  one  quarter  of  one  percent.,  ex- 
cept that  on  the  sale  of  merchandise  they  could  take 
one  half  of  one  per  cent.  Banks  have  since  then 
diverted  the  purchase  of  commercial  paper  from  the 
Bourse,  but  this  still  remains  the  financial  centre  of 
the  country,   in  which  transactions  daily  take  place 

*  Journal  de  Barhier,  i.  350,  1. 
2  Arret,  September  24,  1724. 


84  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

compared  with  which  the  dealings  of  the  Rue  Quin- 
campoix  were  insignificant.  The  institution  of  the 
Bourse  was  a  result  of  the  new  life  given  to  business 
by  Law's  gigantic  operations,  and  like  many  other 
results  of  his  activity,  it  was  of  assistance  in  the 
rapid  development  of  wealth  which  began  in  the  last 
century. 

Bourbon's  administration  might  have  survived  the 
public  discontent  which  it  had  aroused,  but  he  insured 
his  overthrow  by  an  injudicious  attempt  to  rid  himself 
of  Fleury.  Though  the  former  preceptor  was  willing 
to  leave  Bourbon  at  the  head  of  the  government,  he 
would  allow  no  interference  with  his  own  authority. 
He  attended  all  the  conferences  between  Louis  and 
the  prime  minister,  and  if  Fleury  advanced  an  opin- 
ion, it  was  sure  to  become  that  of  the  king.  Wearied 
of  this,  and  sure  of  the  queen's  friendship,  Bourbon 
held  a  council  in  her  room,  to  which  Fleury  was  not 
bidden.  The  preceptor  resolved  on  a  plan  that  he 
had  before  adopted  with  success ;  he  sent  a  farewell 
letter  to  the  king,  and  retired  from  the  court.  Doubt- 
less he  expected  that  his  recall  would  be  demanded 
by  Louis,  and  so  it  was.  The  king  was  dejected  at 
the  absence  of  the  man  whom  he  regarded  as  his  best 
friend,  and  judicious  courtiers  suggested  that  he  had 
but  to  order  his  return.  Bourbon  had  not  sufficient 
resolution  to  persist  in  his  purpose,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  send  a  letter  written  with  his  own  hand,  asking 
Fleury  to  come  back ;  the  discreet  preceptor  promptly 
acceded,  and  assumed  his  position  in  the  councils  of 
the  king  with  a  recognized  ascendency  which  was  not 
again  questioned.^ 

The  ministry  lasted  a  few  months  longer,  but 
»  Walpole  to  Newcastle,  June  13, 1726. 


MINISTRY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BOURBON.       85 

Fleury  at  last  decided  to  take  the  administration  into 
his  own  hands.  Bourbon  and  Mme,  de  Prie  were 
universally  hated,  and  there  was  no  risk  in  overthrow- 
ing a  prince  of  the  blood  who  had  made  himself  odious 
to  all.  Louis  was  ready  to  do  whatever  his  adviser 
counseled,  and  he  performed  his  part  with  the  dis- 
simulation for  which  he  had  a  natural  talent.  On 
the  morning  of  June  11,  1726,  the  king  parted  from 
Bourbon  with  unusual  affability,  and  said  as  he  left 
him,  "My  cousin,  do  not  keep  us  waiting  for  supper 
to-night."  The  duke  was  not  to  enjoy  the  honor  of 
supping  with  his  sovereign ;  as  he  prepared  to  follow 
to  Rambouillet,  the  captain  of  the  guards  handed  him 
a  lettre  de  cachet.,  dismissing  him  from  office,  and 
ordering  him  to  retire  forthwith  to  Chantilly  and 
there  remain.  He  obeyed  without  resistance.  His 
career  was  ended,  and  for  the  rest  of  his  life  he  was 
a  political  nullity.  Business  had  been  poor  under 
his  rule ;  distress  was  prevalent,  and  bread  was  dear ; 
the  police  authorities  had  to  interfere  to  prevent 
bonfires  blazing  in  all  the  streets  of  Paris  in  token  of 
the  popular  joy  at  the  overthrow  of  the  minister.^ 

Mme.  de  Prie  was  exiled  to  Normandy,  where  she 
literally  wasted  away  with  rage  and  disappointed  am- 
bition, and  died  within  a  few  months.^  Her  lover 
took  his  fate  more  calmly;  at  Chantilly  he  had  ganae 
preserves  that  could  not  be  excelled  in  France;  he 
gathered  about  him  a  collection  of  wild  beasts,  whose 
savage  nature  had  peculiar  charm  for  him,  and  he 
diverted  himself  in  watching  their  ways ;  with  his  pri- 
vate wealth  and  the  pensions  and  sinecures  which  he 

1  Barbier,  i.  428. 

*  Mem.  d'Argenson,  i.  61. 


86  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

still  enjoyed,  he  had  an  income  of  two  millions,  and 
he  consoled  himself  for  political  insignificance.  The 
Paris  brothers  were  also  sent  into  exile,  but  for  men 
of  their  ability  time  was  sure  to  bring  new  opportu- 
nities. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  MINISTRY    OF   CARDINAL   FLEURY. 

After  Bourbon's  dismissal  it  was  decided  to  imi- 
tate one  of  the  famous  incidents  of  the  administration 
of  Louis  XIV.  Almost  in  the  words  of  his  great- 
grandfather, Louis  XV.  declared  that  henceforward 
he  should  be  his  own  chief  minister,  and  that  the 
members  of  his  council  could  address  themselves  to 
him  for  instruction  as  to  their  duties.  In  words  only 
did  the  young  king  imitate  his  ancestor ;  Louis  XIV. 
never  abandoned  the  endeavor  to  rule  his  kingdom 
himself,  but  Louis  XV.  did  not  even  make  the  at- 
tempt. Doubtless  it  was  at  Fleury's  suggestion  that 
his  pupil  professed  a  desire  to  take  upon  himself  the 
duties  of  his  office ;  alike  in  youth  and  age  Louis  XV. 
was  a  faineant  king,  not  from  lack  of  ability,  but  from 
lack  of  interest.  While  Fleury  lived,  the  king  was 
willing  that  he  should  do  as  he  pleased,  and  he  re- 
posed in  his  former  tutor  a  confidence  that  was  not 
misplaced;  after  the  cardinal's  death  ministers  were 
left  to  their  own  devices,  not  because  Louis  trusted 
them,  but  because  he  was  too  indifferent  to  interfere. 

Fleury  was  in  his  seventy -third  year  when  he  as- 
sumed the  duties,  though  not  the  title,  of  prime  min- 
ister. He  declined  to  accept  that  office,  saying  that  he 
would  be  only  an  adviser  to  the  king,  but  in  fact  the 
will  of  the  minister  was  law;  Fleury  had  been  coy  in 
assuming  authority,  but  he  clung  to  it  with  tenacity, 
and  was  jealous  of  the  slightest  division  of  power. 


88  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

In  many  things  he  resembled  his  contemporary,  Sir 
llobert  Walpole,  and  like  him  he  wished  no  partners 
in  business. 

Fleury  was  soon  made  a  cardinal,  and  thus  took  his 
place  in  the  line  of  succession  from  Richelieu,  Maza- 
rin,  and  Dubois,  who  had  combined  the  dignity  of  the 
cardinalate  with  the  power  of  a  prime  minister. 
None  of  his  predecessors  had  exercised  so  unques- 
tioned an  authority;  he  was  sure  of  the  affectionate 
docility  of  his  former  pupil ;  there  was  no  Day  of  the 
Dupes  during  his  administration,  because  no  one  for 
a  moment  thought  it  possible  to  induce  the  king  to 
dismiss  the  cardinal.  Fleury  did  not  wish  to  have  his 
master  take  an  active  part  in  matters  of  state,  Louis 
did  not  wish  to  do  so,  and  they  dwelt  together  in 
perfect  harmony. 

Nor  was  Fleury  exposed  to  any  danger  from  the 
popular  hostility,  that  had  twice  driven  Mazarin  from 
his  place;  the  conditions  which  made  a  Fronde  pos- 
sible no  longer  existed  in  France,  and  the  time  was 
past  when  any  nobleman,  however  powerful,  contem- 
plated the  possibility  of  taking  up  arms  against  the 
royal  authority.  Thus  the  cardinal  was  left  to  enjoy 
seventeen  years  of  power  undisturbed  by  court  in- 
trigues, untrammeled  by  the  king,  and  unaffected  by 
popular  criticism.  On  the  whole,  this  long  adminis- 
tration was  beneficial  to  France.  Fleury  was  not  a 
man  of  original  mind,  nor  one  who  would  seek  to 
change  the  institutions  which  he  found  established. 
By  temperament  he  was  cautious  even  to  t^idity, 
disinclined  to  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  the  community, 
or  to  take  part  in  the  disputes  of  other  countries ;  the 
authority  of  the  state  was  exercised  with  somewhat 
diminished  activity,  and  the  citizen  enjoyed  the  ad- 
vantages of  being  let  alone. 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.  89 

Though  the  great  industrial  and  commercial  devel- 
opment of  France  came  somewhat  later  in  the  cen- 
tury, yet  improvement  could  be  seen  in  the  time  of 
Fleury,  and  in  some  measure  he  contributed  to  that 
result.  His  administration  was  an  economical  one, 
and  thrift  in  the  government  expenditures  was  a 
boon  to  the  country.  After  the  long  depression  at 
the  close  of  Louis  XIV. 's  reign  and  the  wild  and 
ruinous  speculation  of  the  regency,  came  a  period  of 
quiet,  of  moderate  taxation,  and  of  recuperation.  In 
the  towns,  in  manufactures,  and  in  commerce,  there 
was  a  substantial  growth.  If  the  development  of  the 
French  colonies  was  small  when  compared  with  those 
of  England,  it  was  more  rapid  than  it  had  been  be- 
fore. Whatever  harm  had  resulted  from  Law's  un- 
dertakings, they  gave  new  life  to  French  enterprise ; 
the  revolution  in  French  trade  in  the  eighteenth 
century  attracted  little  attention  amid  the  political 
changes  which  took  place,  but  it  exercised  a  large 
influence  upon  them;  the  petty  shopkeeper  of  the 
Valois  period  was  rapidly  becoming  the  merchant  of 
modern  times,  and  the  growth  of  a  rich  and  influen- 
tial bourgeoisie  introduced  a  new  factor  into  social 
and  political  life.  There  is  no  surer  test  of  prosper- 
ity than  an  increase  in  the  revenue,  when  this  is  not 
caused  by  the  imposition  of  new  taxes.  In  1726,  the 
farms  yielded  eighty  millions;  in  1742,  they  produced 
ninety -one  millions. ^  "The -finances,"  wrote  Barbier 
in  1737,  "are  in  better  condition  than  they  have  ever 
been,  and  it  will  be  a  misfortune  to  lose  the  cardinal." 
In  both  his  statements  the  Parisian  bourgeois  was  right. 
In  part,  this  result  was  due  to  the  fact  that  Fleury 
insisted  upon  business  methods  that  had  long  been 
'  M^m.  sur  les  recettes  gendrales,  MSS.  Bib.  NaL 


90  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

lacking.  The  cardinal  made  no  radical  alterations  in 
the  established  system,  he  matle  no  effort  to  do  away 
with  the  vicious  institution  of  farmers  general,  but 
he  did  the  best  he  could  with  the  administrative 
methods  which  he  found  in  force.  ,  He  was  by  nature 
thrifty ;  courtiers  jested  at  the  scanty  fare  he  set  be- 
fore his  guests,  —  the  plain  roast  and  the  four  entrees 
which  he  could  never  be  persuaded  to  exceed,  —  but 
the  prudent  economy  manifested  in  his  own  life  he  in- 
troduced into  the  state,  and  it  was  a  wholesome  change 
from  the  costly  display  which  had  been  dear  to  Louis 
XIV.  1  Those  bred  to  the  idea  that  a  king  could  not 
be  too  liberal  sneered  at  what  were  called  the  cheese- 
paring methods  of  the  cardinal,  but  they  resulted  in 
a  surplus,  a  thing  unknown  in  French  finance  since 
the  days  of  Colbert.^  With  one  exception  his  admin- 
istration was  free  from  the  attempts  at  partial  repu- 
diation which  had  injured  the  national  credit  and 
compelled  the  government  to  borrow  at  exorbitant 
rates.  Soon  after  he  assumed  office  various  annuities 
and  obligations  paying  less  than  ten  livres  a  year 
were  canceled  ;  it  was  repudiation  on  a  diminutive 
scale.  This  measure  was  the  more  unjust  because  it 
fell  on  small  holders.  The  income  of  a  hundred  poor 
men  was  reduced,  said  a  critic,  while  on  the  same  day 
pensions  to  the  amount  of  fifty-six  thousand  livres 
were  granted  the  family  of  a  retiring  official ;  what  the 
government  gained  by  injustice  it  lost  by  prodigality.^ 
Such  proceedings  had  been  common  in  the  past,  but 
they  were  not  to  Fleury's  taste.     In  the  future  the 

•  Mem.  de  Chevemy  ;  Mem.  de  Luynes,  v.  242. 

•  There  was  a  sur])lus  for  only  a  brief  period,  the  expenses  of 
war  resulting  again  in  a  small  deficit. 

•  Journal  de  liarhier,  August,  1727. 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.  91 

interest  on  the  debt  was  paid  regularly  and  at  the 
rate  agreed  upon;  there  were  no  pale  rentiers  while 
the  cardinal  was  at  the  head  of  the  administration, 
and  under  him  there  was  a  reduction  of  the  national 
indebtedness,  not  by  repudiation,  but  by  honest  pay- 
ment out  of  surplus  revenues. 

In  the  two  years  prior  to  the  war  of  the  Austrian 
Succession  there  was  a  surplus  of  fifteen  millions  annu- 
ally, —  a  phenomenon  which  was  not  again  witnessed 
under  the  old  regime.  Nor  was  there  any  foundation 
for  the  charge  so  often  made  that  Fleury  sacrificed  the 
marine  to  a  false  economy.  In  1725,  under  Bourbon, 
twelve  million  livres  were  spent  on  the  marine;  in 
1739,  under  Fleury,  the  expenditures  reached  nineteen 
millions,  an  amount  hardly  inferior  to  the  sum  spent 
under  Louis  XIV.  in  times  of  peace.  ^ 

The  improved  condition  of  the  national  finances 
under  Fleury  had  a  beneficial  effect  on  business,  but 
the  country  owed  to  him  a  still  greater  boon.  The 
currency  was  at  last  established  on  an  immovable 
basis,  and  this  measure  did  more  to  accelerate  the 
increase  of  wealth  and  the  development  of  industry 
than  all  the  commercial  codes  at  which  Colbert  so 
earnestly  labored.  For  the  first  time  in  French  his- 
tory the  country  enjoyed  during  a  long  period  an 
unchanged  standard  of  value;  as  it  had  been  fixed, 
so  it  remained. 

The  alterations  made  by  the  government  in  the 
established  value  of  coins  had  been  frequent;  from 
the  days  of  Charlemagne  to  those  of  Louis  XV.  the 
fraudulent  process  had  gone  on,  until  a  livre  in  1726 
contained  only  a  one-seventy-second  part  of  the  in- 
trinsic value  of  a  livre  in  814.  The  sovereign  had 
*  Clamageran,  iii.  281,  citing  Arch.  Nat. 


92  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

usually  been  in  financial  straits,  and  a  depreciation  of 
the  currency  seemed  a  simple  way  to  pay  his  debts. 
It  had  been  less  evident  that  such  measures  would 
diminish  his  revenues  by  lessening  the  wealth  of  his 
subjects,  but  this  constant  juggling  with  the  currency 
rendered  it  almost  impossible  to  carry  on  business  on 
an  extended  scale. 

In  1726,  the  last  change  in  the  French  standard 
was  adopted  under  the  influence  of  Paris  Duverney. 
It  was  declared  in  the  edict  that  the  values  thus  es- 
tablished should  be  maintained;  the  promise  had 
often  been  made  in  the  past  and  never  observed ;  this 
time  the  government  kept  faith  with  the  people; 
subject  to  some  trifling  changes,  French  coins  have 
remained  of  the  same  weight  and  fineness  from  that 
day  to  this. 

Fleury's  action  seemed  simple,  and  yet  it  pro- 
duced far-reaching  and  most  beneficial  results;  he 
took  the  standard  as  he  found  it,  and  would  not  allow 
it  to  be  altered;  he  was  essentially  an  honest  man, 
and  in  refraining  from  tampering  with  the  currency 
he  did  a  good  work,  the  importance  of  which  probably 
he  did  not  himself  realize.  By  the  edict  of  1726,  the 
value  of  a  gold  mark  was  established  substantially 
as  it  has  remained;  the  ratio  of  gold  to  silver  was 
fixed  at  about  fifteen  to  one,  and  that  figure  closely 
represented  the  relative  value  of  the  two  metals  fori 
a  century  and  a  half. 

By  the  end  of  Fleury's  long  administration,  the 
financial  principles  adopted  by  him  had  taken  root. 
Business  had  improved,  and  the  national  income  in- 
creased in  an  era  of  fixed  values  and  of  reasonably 
stability ;  the  idea  of  tampering  with  the  currency  no 
longer  suggested  itself  as  an  advisable  way  of  helping 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.  93 

the  treasury,  and  was  not  again  adopted  under  the 
old  regime.  Freed  from  the  uncertainties  which  had 
threatened  them,  French  trade  and  commerce  devel- 
oped during  the  fifty  years  before  the  Revolution 
with  greater  rapidity  than  at  any  time  in  the  history 
of  the  past.  It  was  possible  to  undertake  new  enter- 
prises, with  the  assurance  that  a  contract  for  a  thou- 
sand louis  would  represent  the  same  value  ten  years 
in  the  future,  that  the  obligation  of  the  government 
or  of  a  merchant  would  be  paid  in  the  same  currency 
as  that  with  which  the  lender  parted ;  of  all  the  causes 
which  assisted  in  the  industrial  development  of  France 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  this,  which  has  received 
the  least  attention,  was  perhaps  the  most  potent. 
"The  15th  of  June,  1726,"  an  eminent  historian  has 
said,  "is  a  great  date  in  the  economical  history  of 
France ;  the  era  of  false  money  closed,  the  era  of  an 
honest  and  fixed  currency  begun."  ^ 

In  another  direction  the  development  of  the  country 
was  aided  by  government  action,  for  the  improvement 
of  highways  made  rapid  progress  under  Fleury.  In 
the  last  century  the  condition  of  French  roads  had 
been  lamentable ;  in  many  mountainous  districts  the 
inhabitants  laid  in  provisions  for  six  months,  be- 
cause for  so  long  a  time  as  that  communication  with 
the  outside  world  was  impossible.^  Even  in  more 
level  and  populous  sections  the  condition  of  things 
was  not  very  much  better ;  over  a  large  proportion  of 
the  highways  no  one  ever  went  by  carriage ;  the  Turk- 
ish ambassador  has  described  his  journey  from  Toulon 
to  Paris  during  the  regency,  and  the  difficidties  he 
encountered  in  traveling  through  the  centre  of  France 

^  Clamageran,  Histoire  de  I'impot,  iii.  240. 
'^  Mem.  de  Vintendant  de  Montauban, 


94  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

were  greater  than  now  beset  the  trapper  making  his 
way  over  mountiiiu  paths  in  Colorado.^  There  was 
indeed  some  improvement  under  Louis  XIV.,  but 
the  country  was  large  and  progress  was  slow. 

In  the  following  century  the  amelioration  of  high- 
ways went  on  at  a  greatly  accelerated  pace,  and  it 
was  assisted  by  an  important  change.  Some  of  the 
chief  highways  were  already  under  government  su- 
pervision, but  many  remained  under  the  control  of 
neighboring  noblemen.  It  was  not  strange  that  their 
condition  was  almost  uniformly  bad;  if  the  noble- 
man exerted  himself  at  all,  it  was  usually  to  compel 
the  construction  of  a  convenient  road  to  his  own  cha- 
teau by  means  of  forced  labor,  and  it  was  rarely  that 
the  interests  of  a  large  proprietor  and  of  the  towns  or 
peasants  in  the  vicinity  would  be  the  same.  Naturally, 
therefore,  the  roads  near  a  gentleman's  house  were 
often  unnecessarily  good,  while  in  other  localities 
they  were  reprehensibly  bad.  In  1738,  the  king 
assumed  exclusive  control  of  all  the  principal  high- 
ways, and  an  intelligent  and  active  attention  was  given 
them.  Out  of  this  change,  with  all  its  benefits,  grew 
an  additional  and  sometimes  a  very  grievous  burden 
upon  the  peasantry.  The  royal  corvee  came  into 
existence  in  a  perfectly  fortuitous  way,  without  even 
the  formality  of  an  edict.  Among  feudal  privileges 
had  long  existed  the  right  of  the  seigneur  to  a  cer- 
tain amoimt  of  impaid  labor  from  his  tenant,  and  this 
was  exacted  for  road  buUding  as  weU  as  for  other 
uses.  There  had  been  no  royal  corvee;  even  if  the 
government  sometimes  compelled  men  to  perform 
work  for  which  it  did  not  pay,  such  cases  were  ex- 
ceptional and  were  sanctioned  by  no  law.  Under 
*  Relation  de  I'Ambassade  de  Mehemet  Effendi. 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.  95 

Fleury's  administration  this  practice  became  a  recog- 
nized institution,  though  still  it  might  be  said  that 
it  was  without  any  sanction  of  the  law.  When  the 
government  assumed  control  of  the  highways,  to  make 
men  work  without  pay  often  seemed  an  easy  way  to 
complete  a  job,  and  in  1738,  the  comptroller  general, 
by  a  simple  instruction  to  minor  officials,  authorized 
the  use  of  forced  labor  on  public  works.  On  this  in- 
formal memorandum  rested  a  usage  which  soon  became 
a  heavy  burden  on  the  peasants.       .  • 

The  practice  appeared  so  convenient  to  the  govern- 
ment that  it  was  approved,  though  it  had  not  been 
formally  imposed,  and  in  time  the  corvee  came  to  be  re- 
garded a  legal  imposition,  no  more  to  be  resisted  than 
the  taille.  A  peasant  required  by  an  official  to  give 
his  labor  on  some  public  work  was  in  no  position  to 
question  the  legality  of  the  requisition,  and  the  extent 
of  the  demands  made  upon  him  varied  with  the  needs 
of  the  service.  It  was  regulated  somewhat  by  custom 
and  still  more  by  caprice.  From  the  age  of  sixteen  to 
sixty  every  one  subject  to  the  taille  could  be  compelled 
to  render  gratuitous  labor  on  government  work,  and 
no  limit  was  placed  on  the  time  that  he  could  be  thus 
employed ;  it  ranged  from  eight  to  fifty  days,  and  the 
man  who  did  not  work  with  sufficient  industry  could 
be  imprisoned. 

This  new  tax,  like  many  other  taxes,  fell  entirely 
on  the  peasantry ;  no  one  thought  of  requiring  a  gen- 
tleman either  to  work  or  to  furnish  a  substitute ;  the 
artisan  escaped  under  the  protection  of  the  city  in 
which  he  dwelt ;  the  agricultural  laborer  was  regarded 
as  the  natural  subject  for  taxation ;  he  was  defense- 
less, he  was  the  easiest  person  from  whom  to  demand 
assistance,  and  upon  him  alone  fell  the  burden  of  the 
royal  corvee. 


96  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Like  most  taxes  under  the  old  regime,  this  was  an 
injudicious  one.  Long  before,  Colbert  had  experi- 
mented with  forced  labor  in  government  work,  and 
his  good  sense  convinced  him  that  it  was  not  profit- 
able even  to  the  government.  The  system  imposed 
great  hardship  on  the  peasants ;  they  were  often  taken 
far  from  their  homes,  and  they  rendered  their  service 
grudgingly.  A  slight  increase  to  the  taille  would  have 
cost  the  taxpayers  less  and  been  worth  more  to  the 
state.  • 

Yet,  though  this  imposition  was  costly  and  unjust, 
it  produced  valuable  results.  The  work  done  by  the 
corvee  was  almost  entirely  in  the  building  of  high- 
ways; when  similar  labor  had  been  rendered  at  the 
request  of  great  landowners,  it  had  rarely  been  judi- 
ciously applied,  but  under  the  direction  of  govern- 
ment officials  a  system  of  roads  was  constructed  in 
France,  which  could  be  equaled  in  no  other  part  of 
Europe,  and  which  proved  an  important  factor  in  the 
rapid  development  of  French  wealth.  Under  Louis 
XV.  it  was  estimated  that  in  all  six  thousand  leagues 
of  road  were  built  by  the  state.  The  magnificence 
of  the  highways  constantly  attracted  Arthur  Young's 
attention  when  he  traveled  in  France  shortly  before 
the  Revolution.  "If  the  French  have  not  husbandry 
to  show  us,"  he  writes,  "they  have  roads;  nothing 
can  be  more  beautiful."  "Coming  from  Spain,"  he 
says  again,  "you  tread  at  once  on  a  noble  causeway, 
made  with  all  the  solidity  and  magnificence  that  dis- 
tinguishes the  highways  of  France."  Some  of  these 
indeed  he  found' more  costly  than  was  required  by  the 
necessities  of  the  travel  that  passed  over  them,  but  it 
was  better  to  have  the  roads  too  good  than  too  bad. 

The   administration   of    Cardinal  Fleury  covered 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.  97 

more  than  one  third  of  Louis  XV. 's  actual  reign; 
the  king  was  little  over  twenty,  when  his  former 
preceptor  became  prime  minister;  he  had  grown  to 
be  a  man  of  almost  forty  when  Fleury  died,  but  he 
took  no  more  active  part  in  the  work  of  government 
at  the  close  of  the  cardinal's  rule  than  at  its  begin- 
ning. It  is  probable  that  the  minister  was  willing 
that  his  former  pupil  should  follow  his  advice  without 
question ;  he  did  not  relish  interference  from  his  mas- 
ter any  more  than  from  his  associates,  but  at  least  he 
used  his  influence  to  keep  Louis  a  respectable  though 
a  faineant  ruler.  The  cardinal  did  not  seek  to  base 
his  favor  on  the  good  will  of  some  mistress ;  though 
the  queen  bore  him  no  love,  he  never  sought  to  under- 
mine her  position. 

It  was  not  until  towards  the  close  of  Fleury 's  min- 
istry that  Louis  began  to  indulge  in  dissipations  which 
became  more  shameless  with  advancing  years.  In 
this  respect  the  king's  career  was  as  curious  as  it  was 
unedifying.  Strict  regard  for  conjugal  fidelity  had 
not  been  a  characteristic  of  French  kings,  and  they 
had  suffered  little  in  the  opinion  of  their  people  on 
that  account.  A  king's  wife  was  selected  for  politi- 
cal and  not  for  personal  reasons ;  if  he  turned  his  eyes 
elsewhere,  he  was  not  apt  to  sigh  in  vain,  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  many  of  his  subjects  thought  any  the 
worse  of  him  for  occasional  deviations  from  the  paths 
of  rectitude.  But  Louis  XV.  was  timid  by  tempera- 
ment and  cold  in  heart,  and  it  needed  a  professional 
Lothario  like  the  Duke  of  Richelieu  to  embark  him 
in  a  course  of  gallantry.  When  he  was  young  he  led 
a  life  of  great  propriety ;  he  began  a  career  of  license 
when  most  men  feel  that  it  is  time  to  be  done  with 
youthful   follies;   few  French  gentlemen  were   such 


08  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

models  of  virtue  as  Louis  XV.  at  twenty,  and  no 
French  gentleman,  was  so  simk  in  low  sensuality  as 
Louis  XV.  at  sixty. 

Fleury's  love  of  peace  inclined  him  to  a  cautious 
policy  in  his  dealings  with  foreign  powers,  but  the 
cardinal  was  shrewd  as  well  as  pacific,  and  he  kept 
France  free  from  embarrassing  entanglements  without 
any  loss  of  national  prestige.  It  was  from  Spanish 
complications  that  war  seemed  most  likely  to  arise. 
In  1727,  the  Spanish  began  a  long  and  useless  siege 
of  Gibraltar,  and  their  queen  was  eager  for  hostilities 
in  Italy  in  order  to  make  Italian  princes  of  her  sons. 
Fleury  was  not  inclined  to  go  to  war  on  Elizabeth's 
account,  and  for  some  years  the  relations  of  the  Span- 
ish Bourbons  were  more  intimate  with  the  Austrians 
than  with  their  French  cousins. 

By  a  treaty  signed  in  1725,  Spain  had  guaranteed 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  and  in  return  there  had 
been  vague  hopes  held  out  of  a  marriage  between  the 
sons  of  Elizabeth  and  the  two  daughters  of  Charles 
VI.  Such  an  alliance  would  again  have  united  the 
Houses  of  Spain  and  Austria,  but  it  is  doubtful  if 
the  emperor  entertained  the  idea  seriously,  and  in 
the  mean  time  he  himself  was  threatened  with  war  by 
England  and  Holland  unless  he  abandoned  the  com- 
mercial company  by  means  of  which  he  hoped  to 
rebuild  the  ruined  trade  of  Ostend.  Largely  on  ac- 
count of  the  exertions  of  Walpole  and  Fleury,  none  of 
these  grounds  of  dispute  resulted  in  a  breach  of  the 
peace,  and  at  last  by  the  treaty  of  Vienna  signed  in 
1731  the  emperor  abandoned  the  Ostend  company, 
and  Don  Carlos  took  possession  of  the  duchy  of 
Parma  with  the  promise  of  becoming  Grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany  on  the  death  of  the  present  ruler,  who  was 
the  last  of  the  line  of  the  Medicis. 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.  99 

If  the  cardinal  was  able  to  avert  war  abroad,  lie 
was  less  successful  in  stilling  the  disturbances  which 
were  excited  in  the  church  and  the  Parliament  by  the 
disputes  between  Jesuit  and  Jansenist  theologians. 

The  famous  bull  Unigenitus  was  issued  by  Pope 
Clement  XI.  in  1713,  and  Louis  XIV.,  whose  re- 
ligious policy  was  controlled  by  the  Jesuits,  had 
insisted  that  it  should  be  received  as  part  of  the 
ecclesiastical  polity  of  his  kingdom.  It  censured  one 
hundred  and  one  propositions  approved  by  the  Jan- 
senist doctors,  and  had  been  extorted  from  the  Pope 
by  his  Jesuit  advisers,  as  a  solemn  condemnation  of 
the  heterodox  views  of  their  enemies.  For  that  very 
reason  the  judges,  who  bore  a  traditionary  hostility  to 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  insisted  that  the  Unigenitus 
should  not  be  accepted  as  a  declaration  of  faith  bind- 
ing on  members  of  the  Gallican  Church,  and  they 
steadfastly  opposed  its  registration.  Very  largely 
the  people  of  Paris,  the  university,  the  bourgeoisie, 
were  Jansenist  in  their  sympathies,  and  for  the  same 
reason  as  the  judges;  they  understood  little  of  the 
abstruse  doctrines  dear  to  the  disciples  of  the  Port 
Royal,  but  they  disliked  the  Jesuits  and  therefore 
they  viewed  their  adversaries  with  approval.  During 
almost  half  a  century  of  conflict  over  these  questions 
between  the  courts  and  the  king,  popular  sympathy 
was  always  with  the  former.  Louis  XIV.  did  indeed 
compel  the  registration  of  the  Constitution,  as  the 
bull  was  commonly  styled,  but  the  courts  never  ceased 
to  protest  against  it,  and  to  declare  that  it  was  not 
binding  on  the  consciences  of  French  believers. 

If  the  judiciary  were  not  disposed  to  yield  an  un- 
questioning obedience  to  pai)al  declarations  of  the 
faith,  the  great  majority  of  the  superior  clergy  were 


100  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

strongly  ultramontane.  This  had  not  always  been 
so,  but  the  French  clergy  were  essentially  royalist, 
and  when  the  king  was  zealous  in  his  acceptance  of 
the  papal  decree,  they  were  not  apt  to  lag  behind  in 
obedience  to  the  head  of  the  church.  For  a  century, 
appointments  to  important  ecclesiastical  offices  in 
France  had  been  for  the  most  part  controlled  by  the 
Jesuits,  and  when  a  Jesuit  confessor  advised  with  his 
royal  penitent  as  to  the  persons  fit  for  the  great  dig- 
nities of  the  church,  a  Jansenist  was  hardly  more  apt 
to  be  recommended  than  a  Mahometan.  As  a  result, 
there  were  few  possessors  of  bishoprics  or  rich  abbeys 
who  did  not  regard  those  who  refused  to  accept  the 
Unigenitus  as  no  better  than  heretics.  This  would 
have  done  little  harm  if  they  had  been  content  to 
keep  their  opinions  to  themselves,  but  their  efforts  at 
proselytizing  often  took  the  form  of  persecution. 

In  the  early  part  of  Louis  XV. 's  reign  there  were 
still  a  few  bishops  in  sympathy  with  the  Jansenist 
party,  and  among  the  lower  clergy  it  had  numerous 
supporters.  Those  who  clung  to  doctrines  that  were 
now  condemned  at  Rome  soon  began  to  suffer  from 
the  assaults  of  their  more  orthodox  brethren.  The 
Bishop  of  Senez,  in  his  pastoral,  took  occasion  to 
attack  the  bull,  and  his  brethren  decided  that  this 
infraction  of  discipline  must  not  go  unpunished.  A 
council  met  and  solemnly  condenmed  his  position ;  the 
bishop  was  declared  guilty  of  seditious  heresy,  he  was 
deprived  of  his  bishopric  and  ordered  to  retire  to 
a  remote  abbey.  The  circumstances  connected  with 
this  vindication  of  the  faith  were  singularly  unfortu- 
nate, and  the  action  of  the  council  of  Embrun  was 
among  the  injudicious  measures  by  which  the  Jesuits 
in  tliis  century  unnecessarily  outraged  public  senti- 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.         101 

ment.  The  Bishop  of  Senez  was  an  old  man  of 
eighty ;  he  had  been  known  as  a  preacher  of  ability ; 
he  had  led  a  life  of  apostolic  zeal,  beloved  by  his 
flock,  and  giving  to  the  poor  with  an  almost  imexam- 
pled  liberality.  The  council  which  convened  to  con- 
demn a  man  of  saintly  character  was  presided  over 
by  Tencin,  the  Archbishop  of  Embnm,  a  person  of 
unquestioned  capacity,  but  of  notorious  immorality. 
Tencin  had  been  judicially  convicted  of  simony;  he 
had  made  his  way  in  the  world  partly  by  the  good 
judgment  he  showed  in  using  Dubois's  money  in  pur- 
chasing for  him  his  promotion  to  the  cardinalate,  and 
partly  by  the  influence  of  his  sister,  who  was  an  apos- 
tate nun  and  a  courtesan  of  high  degree. 

This  imprudent  piece  of  persecution  was  followed 
by  other  steps  that  were  no  wiser.  Some  cures  of 
Paris  were  deposed  because  they  would  not  acknow- 
ledge the  authority  of  the  bull ;  some  advocates  of  the 
Parliament  signed  a  protest  against  its  doctrines  and 
were  sent  into  temporary  banishment.  In  1730,  by 
a  royal  edict,  all  priests  of  whatever  degree  were 
ordered  to  accept  the  Unigenitus  without  modification 
or  discussion,  and  if  they  failed  to  do  so  their  bene- 
fices were  to  become  vacant.  This  edict  was  certainly 
a  very  outrageous  act,  and  the  Parliament  refused 
to  register  it.  Thereupon  the  king  went  in  person  to. 
enforce  Its  registration  by  a  bed  of  justice.  He  was 
received  in  gloomy  silence;  not  a  single  cry  of  Vive 
le  roi  was  heard  as  Louis  passed  into  the  Parliament 
on  his  errand,  and  this  silence  was  so  unusual  amid 
a  loyal  and  enthusiastic  people  that  it  excited  much 
comment.  The  Parliament  was  solemnly  forbidden 
to  discuss  these  questions,  but  to  such  orders  the 
judges  gave  no  heed;  more  royalist  tlian  the  king, 


102  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

they  declared  that  they  must  be  firm  against  the 
monarch  himself  when  he  misunderstood  his  rights 
and  advocated  doctrines  in  which  the  superiority  of 
ecclesiastical  authority  was  asserted  almost  in  the 
language  of  Gregory  and  Innocent. 

Zealous  bishops  continued  to  issue  fervent  pas- 
torals, and  when  these  were  unacceptable  to  the  Par- 
liament the  court  condemned  them  as  seditious,  and 
ordered  them  to  be  burned  by  the  hangman;  the 
bishops  complained  that  the  judges  supported  doc- 
trines contrary  to  the  faith;  the  judges  replied  that 
the  bishops  preached  doctrines  subversive  of  the 
state.  Amid  all  this  wrangling  the  public  was  con- 
stant in  its  animosity  against  the  Jesuits,  and  mani- 
fested this  on  every  occasion.  A  legacy  made  to  a 
Jesuit  house  was  attacked  as  illegal ;  apparently  there 
was  little  cause  for  questioning  the  validity  of  the 
bequest,  but  it  was  set  aside,  and  the  announcement  , 
of  the  decision  was  greeted  with  applause  in  the  court' 
room.  As  the  Jesuit  fathers  retired,  they  had  to  pass 
through  a  hooting  and  jeering  mob,  which  threw  mud 
at  them  literally  as  well  as  figuratively.  Journals 
and  broadsides  indulged  in  unmeasured  abuse  of  the 
Jesuit  party,  and  all  efforts  to  suppress  them  were 
without  success.  The  history  of  one  of  these  papers, 
called  "Nouvelles  Ecclesiastiques,"  is  curious,  because 
it  illustrates  the  laxity  with  which  the  administration 
under  Louis  XV.  was  carried  on.  While  the  sever- 
ity of  ancient  legislation  as  to  the  press  was  preserved 
and  in  some  cases  increased,  a  lax  enforcement  often 
allowed  greater  license  than  would  be  suffered  under 
many  modern  governments.  Nothing  could  be  stricter 
than  the  French  code  by  which  the  censorship  of  the 
press  was  sought  to  be  established ;  no  book  or  i)aper 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.         103 

could  be  published  unless  it  had  first  received  the  ap- 
proval of  the  government;  unless  fortified  with  such 
approval  it  could  not  be  sold,  and  grievous  penalties 
were  imposed  for  any  violation  of  these  regulations. 
The  author,  the  publisher,  and  even  the  seller  could  be 
branded,  confined  in  prison,  sent  to  the  galleys ;  even 
death  was  declared  the  penalty  for  some  offenses. 

While  all  these  laws  were  in  force,  in  1728,  the 
publication  of  the  "Nouvelles  Ecclesiastiques "  was 
begun.  This  periodical  became  the  avowed  organ  of 
the  Jansenist  party,  and  in  its  pages  were  found  the 
most  virulent  abuse  of  the  Jesuits  and  of  ecclesiastics 
thought  to  be  friendly  towards  them;  regardless  of 
rank  or  office,  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons  were  dis- 
cussed with  equal  freedom,  and  in  theological  acerbity 
the  paper  did  not  fall  short  of  the  best  models.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  such  a  journal  received  no  license ; 
it  was  especially  obnoxious  to  the  authorities,  and  the 
police  sought  to  discover  the  guilty  parties  who  sup- 
plied the  public  with  heterodox  literature.  Yet  not- 
withstanding such  efforts  and  all  the  rigorous  laws 
against  unauthorized  publications,  the  "Nouvelles  Ec- 
clesiastiques "  continued  to  be  published  at  Paris  for 
over  sixty  years,  and  was  distributed  to  its  subscribers 
with  almost  as  much  regularity  as  the  "Times"  now 
is  in  London.  It  was  not  possible  to  suppress  this 
journal  with  ease,  and  the  government  lacked  the 
energy  for  the  resolute  and  persistent  effort  that 
would  have  been  required  to  stamp  it  out.  Occasion- 
ally the  police  laid  hands  on  some  vender  or  porter  in 
possession  of  the  forbidden  sheet,  but  such  persons 
were  unacquainted  with  the  editors  or  publishers  of 
the  paper,  and  in  its  delivery  it  passed  through  so 
many  hands  that  no  one  could  trace  the  responsible 


104  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

parties.  With  laws  for  the  censorship  of  the  press 
quite  as  strict  as  they  are  to-day  in  Hussia,  works 
attacking  the  church  and  criticising  the  state  circu- 
lated in  France  under  Louis  XV.  with  ahnost  as 
much  freedom  as  in  England. 

The  efforts  of  the  clergy  to  suppress  such  publica- 
tions were  no  more  successful  than  those  of  the  police. 
The  Archbishop  of  Paris  threatened  with  excommuni- 
cation the  members  of  his  flock  who  continued  to  read  ^ 
the  "Nouvelles  Ecclesiastiques,"  but  the  paper  was 
read  all  the  same.  In  one  of  his  pastorals  he  inserted 
some  paragraphs  recognizing  the  authority  of  the 
Unigenitus,  and  ordered  his  clergy  to  read  this  in 
their  churches.  Twenty -one  cures  forthwith  signed  a 
protest,  refusing  to  obey,  and  the  archbishop  deprived 
them  of  their  livings.  The  cure  of  St.  Jacques  was 
more  obedient.  He  had  been  recently  appointed,  and 
on  the  11th  of  May,  1732,  he  took  possession  of  his 
new  charge.  A  great  crowd  had  gathered  to  listen 
to  his  first  discourse,  and  all  went  peaceably  until  the 
cure,  after  making  some  remarks  on  the  obedience 
due  the  authorities  of  the  church,  put  his  hand  in  his 
pocket  as  if  he  were  about  to  draw  from  it  the  offend- 
ing pastoral.  Instantly  there  began  a  great  tumult. 
Two  thousand  people  arose  and  hastened  to  leave  the 
building,  lest  their  ears  should  be  offended  by  listen- 
ing to  the  utterances  of  the  archbishop ;  they  threw 
over  the  chairs  and  elbowed  one  another  in  their 
eagerness  to  escape  from  the  sanctuary  that  was  thus 
to  be  desecrated ;  a  few  faithful  old  women  remained, 
and  when  the  noise  had  ceased  so  that  his  voice  could 
be  heard,  the  cur6  proceeded  to  read  the  obnoxious 
pastoral.  1 

*  Mem.  de  Barbier,  ii.  266. 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.         105 

In  such  a  controversy  the  Parliament  was  sure  to 
interfere,  and  naturally  it  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
disobedient  cures.  The  king  bade  the  judges  to  cease 
deliberating  about  the  affairs  of  the  church.  They 
presented  their  remonstrances,  but  were  received  with 
scant  courtesy.  "I  have  told  you  my  wish,"  said 
Louis,  "and  it  must  be  executed.  I  want  no  remon- 
strances and  no  replies.  You  have  merited  my  indig- 
nation. Be  more  obedient,  and  attend  to  your  legal 
duties."  "Sire,"  said  the  president,  beginning  to 
reply.  "Be  still,"  cried  the  kmg;  and  the  president 
did  not  venture  to  continue.  Thereupon  another  of 
the  court  presented  a  written  paper.  "Tear  it  up," 
said  the  king,  and  it  was  forthwith  destroyed. 

The  judges  were  none  the  more  amiable  for  such 
rebukes.  There  were  commands,  they  argued,  which 
must  be  disobeyed ;  suppose  the  king  had  given  orders 
that  he  was  not  to  be  aroused ;  if  his  palace  took  fire, 
could  they  leave  him  to  perish  ratlier  than  disobey? 
"This  is  our  position  now,"  they  said:  "the  king 
sleeps,  his  kingdom  is  on  fire,  it  is  for  us  to  arouse 
him."  The  monarch  was  unwilling  to  be  aroused  by 
his  Parliament,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  judges 
thereupon  signed  a  paper  abandoning  their  positions. 
"We  cannot  disobey  the  king,"  they  declared,  "nor 
can  we  neglect  the  duties  of  our  office,  and  there- 
fore we  must  resign  them."  They  marched  from  the 
Parliament  building  in  solemn  procession,  two  by 
two,  their  eyes  bent  upon  the  ground,  amid  a  vast 
multitude,  who  expressed  their  approval  by  crying 
out,  "There  are  the  true  Romans,  the  fathers  of  the 
country." 

In  all  these  conflicts  between  the  Parliament  and 
the  monarch  there  was  an  clement  of  weakness  and 


106  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

insincerity,  and  as  a  result  the  French  kings  and  their 
judges  wrangled  for  two  hundred  years  without  estab- 
lishing a  single  principle  that  was  of  advantage  to  the 
political  development  of  the  state.  A  class  of  men 
holding  judicial  positions  by  inheritance  or  purchase 
could  by  no  possibility  exercise  a  check  on  royal  au- 
thority that  would  be  of  much  value  to  the  commu- 
nity, and  if  the  judges  were  now  popular,  it  was  chiefly 
because  their  opponents  were  unpopular.  "  The  true 
Eomans  "  had  no  thought  of  permanently  abandoning 
the  valuable  offices  which  constituted  their  dignity 
and  furnished  their  livelihood ;  the  king  had  no  wish 
to  lose  the  services  of  men  who  were  well  equipped 
for  their  judicial  duties,  and  were  respected  in  the 
commimity,  and  Fleury  was  eminently  well  adapted 
for  settling  controversies  which  neither  party  desired 
to  carry  to  an  undue  extreme.  He  had  been  educated 
in  Jesuit  schools,  and  his  relations  with  the  order 
were  friendly ;  as  a  priest  his  sympathies  were  with 
the  ultramontane  party,  and  he  was  content  to  accept 
the  Unigenitus ;  but  he  was  not  a  virulent  bigot ;  he 
was  by  temperament  opposed  to  extreme  measures; 
he  had  no  taste  for  persecution,  and  a  strong  taste  for 
tranquillity.  When  such  were  the  feelings  of  the 
opposing  factions,  some  result  was  sure  to  be  reached 
by  which  the  dignity  of  both  would  be  saved,  and  the 
state  would  be  neither  better  nor  worse  for  their  con- 
tention. The  recalcitrant  judges  were  sent  into  tem- 
porary exile.  "That  will  calm  them,"  said  an  impar- 
tial spectator ;  "  they  will  regret  Paris,  their  theatres, 
their  country  parties,  and  their  mistresses ;  they  will 
be  put  to  much  expense  and  get  little  pleasure." 

This  forecast  was  verified,  and  after  a  brief  period 
of  exile  the  disputes  between  the  monarch  and  liis 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.         107 

courts  were  adjusted.  Some  edicts  which  were  offen- 
sive to  the  dignity  of  the  judges  were  suspended;  in 
return  for  this  the  spokesman  of  the  Parliament  de- 
clared in  the  name  of  the  body  that  they  recognized 
the  absolute  and  sovereign  authority  of  the  king. 
"We  know,"  said  he,  "that  he  is  the  master;  it  is 
for  him  to  command  and  for  us  to  obey."  This  was 
a  perfectly  just  statement  of  the  legal  relations  be- 
tween the  king  and  the  courts :  the  monarch  had  by 
law  the  right  to  command,  and  the  Parliament  was 
bound  to  obey.  It  liad  indeed  the  right  to  advise, 
but  the  right  to  give  advice  is  not  an  important  one. 
The  judges  resumed  their  functions,  and  the  disputes 
over  the  Unigenitus  were  forgotten  in  the  war  of  the 
Polish  Succession,  which  soon  began. 

While  the  quarrels  were  waging,  the  commimity 
was  agitated  by  the  curious  manifestations  known  as 
the  miracles  of  the  Deacon  Paris.  The  Jansenists 
were  as  ready  as  their  opponents  to  give  credence  to 
the  direct  interposition  of  the  Divinity;  in  the  last 
century,  the  great  intellect  of  Pascal  had  been  pro- 
foundly impressed  by  the  so-called  miracle  of  the  holy 
thorn,  and  the  inmates  of  Port  Royal  appealed  to  the 
cures  worked  by  it  as  manifest  proofs  of  God's  favor 
towards  their  community.  In  1730,  the  public  was 
more  skeptical  than  when  the  miracles  of  the  thorn 
checked  the  persecutors  of  Port  Royal,  but  at  a 
time  when  the  Jesuits  were  able  to  obtain  the  papal 
recognition  of  the  visions  of  Marie  Alacoque,  it  was 
not  strange  that  many  were  ready  to  believe  in  the 
marvels  performed  at  the  cemetery  of  St.  Mddard, 
the  truth  of  which  was  loudly  proclaimed  by  Jansenist 
leaders. 

The  Deacon  Paris  was  a  man  of  wealth  for  those 


108  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

days,  with  an  income  of  ten  thousand  livres  a  year ;  he 
was  the  brother  of  a  member  of  the  Parliament,  and 
was  a  prominent  advocate  of  Janseuist  doctrines. 
However  erroneous  his  theology,  no  one  could  deny 
the  sanctity  of  his  life;  he  gave  all  that  he  had  to 
the  poor,  slept  without  coverings,  eschewed  meat,  and 
subsisted  on  vegetables.  Worn  out  by  such  austeri- 
ties, in  1727,  the  deacon  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity, 
and  was  buried  in  the  little  cemetery  of  St.  Medard. 
There  his  remains  rested  quietly  for  a  while,  but  ere- 
long rumors  circulated  of  miraculous  cures  worked  on 
those  who  sought  relief  at  his  grave.  Soon  the  ceme- 
tery was  visited  by  increasing  throngs,  and  persons 
of  all  ranks  were  attracted  to  the  place.  The  cures 
became  more  frequent  and  more  extraordinary.  A 
woman  who  had  been  an  invalid  from  infancy,  hardly 
able  to  walk  by  reason  of  her  infirmities,  and  so  often 
in  grievous  plight  that  she  had  been  bled  three  him- 
dred  times,  and  had  two  hundred  times  received  the 
last  sacrament,  made  her  neuvaine  by  the  tomb  of  the 
saint.  As  she  completed  her  ninth  day  of  prayer,  she 
found  herself  restored  to  full  strength ;  she  returned 
home,  and  amazed  her  neighbors  by  running  briskly 
up  five  flights  of  stairs  to  her  apartment.^  The  lame 
walked,  the  deaf  heard,  the  paralyzed  were  restored 
to  vigor,  and  this  succession  of  marvelous  cures  be- 
came the  chief  theme  of  conversation  in  Paris.  Not 
only  could  the  saint  heal  the  faithful,  he  showed  also 
his  ability  to  punish  scoffers.  A  woman  conceived 
the  idea  of  making  sport  of  his  powers;  pretending 
to  be  lame,  she  arrived  at  the  cemetery,  aYid  in  the 
presence  of  the  crowd  threw  herself  on  the  ground  by 

1  Dissertations  sur  les  miracles  operes  au  tombeau  de  Monsieur 
de  Paris. 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.         109 

tlie  tomb,  as  was  the  custom  of  those  in  search  of 
relief.  Her  impiety  was  soon  exposed,  for  presently 
she  began  to  lament  aloud,  and  ask  God  to  pardon 
her  wickedness;  she  was  raised  from  the  ground,  and 
it  was  discovered  that  her  mouth  was  twisted  awry, 
and  one  side  had  become  paralyzed;  thereupon  she 
confessed  that  her  purpose  had  been  to  pretend  a 
cure  and  then  expose  its  falsity,  and  her  sin  had  been 
punished  by  this  grievous  affliction.  This  act  of 
righteous  vengeance  was  vouched  for  by  numerous 
witnesses,  among  them  priests  and  members  of  Par- 
liament, and  the  house  was  not  able  to  hold  the  crowd 
which  rushed  to  see  the  unfortunate  woman  who  had 
so  rashly  doubted  the  powers  of  the  blessed  deacon. ^ 

Miracles  worked  by  Jansenist  remains  found  no 
favor  with  the  ecclesiastical  authorities;  they  were 
declared  to  be  impostures,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Paris 
forbade  his  parishioners  to  pay  their  devotions  to  an 
unauthenticated  saint.  Such  prohibitions  were  of  no 
avail;  the  populace  declared  the  miracle  worker  to  be 
a  saint  without  waiting  for  the  canonization  of  the 
Pope,  and  portraits  and  lives  of  the  Blessed  Deacon 
Paris  circulated  in  defiance  of  the  authorities. 

The  church  of  St.  Medard  stands  in  a  remote 
part  of  Paris ;  in  bad  weather  the  approach  was  diffi- 
cult, and  as  the  faithful  walked  about  the  little  ceme- 
tery, they  often  sunk  in  mud  to  their  ankles.  Not- 
withstanding such  trials,  the  church  was  crowded  from 
five  in  the  morning  until  dark;  no  storm  discouraged 
the  people,  and  they  stood  patiently  in  the  rain,  pray- 
ing to  the  saint  and  watching  those  who  had  come  in 
search  of  cures.     Those  about  the  grave  sang  with 

^  Journal  de  Barbier,  ii.  171  et  seq.,  and  numerous  contempo- 
rary pamphlets. 


110  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

fervor,  while  the  tomb  itself  was  always  covered  by 
the  sick  and  lame,  prostrate  upon  it,  and  beseeching 
relief;  when  some  one  arose  and  declared  himself  re- 
stored to  health,  the  multitude  burst  into  a  Te  Deum, 
and  the  crowd  followed  the  man  who  had  been  cured 
through  the  streets  amid  resounding  cries  of  "Miracle, 
miracle." 

It  was  not  only  the  vulgar  who  showed  their  ven- 
eration for  the  new  saint;  on  one  morning  fifty  car- 
riages were  counted  about  the  church,  and  the  owners 
of  them,  among  whom  were  two  duchesses,  were  say- 
ing their  prayers  within.  Even  so  great  a  person  as 
the  Princess  of  Conti,  a  kinswoman  of  the  king,  came 
to  St.  M^dard  in  search  of  relief.  She  did  not  find 
it,  but  as  she  had  been  blind  for  years,  and  only 
visited  the  tomb  in  person  on  the  first  and  last  days 
of  her  neuvaine,  leaving  it  to  others  to  pray  for  her 
between  times,  either  the  severity  of  her  affliction 
or  the  slackness  of  her  devotion  might  explain  the 
failure. 

The  Jansenists  found  comfort,  not  only  in  the 
miracles  worked  by  one  of  their  own  number,  but  in 
the  failure  of  their  opponents  to  furnish  a  rival. 
The  death  of  the  Deacon  Paris  was  followed  by  that 
of  a  priest  equally  renowned  for  asceticism  and  life- 
long piety,  and  who  had  been  so  bitter  an  opponent 
of  Jansenism  that  he  died  without  the  sacrament, 
rather  than  receive  it  from  the  hands  of  one  tainted 
with  that  heresy.  But  no  miracles  marked  his  grave ; 
a  life  of  eighty  years  spent  in  the  severest  practices 
of  religion  did  not  secure  for  his  remains  the  miracu- 
lous powers  which  the  Almighty  bestowed  on  the 
bones  of  the  blessed  deacon. 

The  manifestations  at  the  cemetery  of  St.  Medard, 


MINISTRY  OF  CARDINAL  FLEURY.         Ill 

as  is  wont  to  be  the  ease,  increased  in  violence. 
Many  who  visited  the  tomb  fell  into  convulsions ;  they 
asked  to  be  beaten  and  trod  upon  by  the  bystanders ; 
persons  lay  on  the  ground  uttering  wild  cries  and  in- 
coherent prophecies-,  scenes  were  enacted  that  were 
disgusting  and  indecent.  It  was  not  so  much  the 
scandal  of  such  performances,  as  their  Jansenist 
origin,  which  at  last  led  the  government  to  interfere. 
In  January,  1732,  a  royal  ordinance  declared  that 
the  cemetery  of  St.  Medard  should  be  closed,  and  all 
persons  were  forbidden  to  enter  it.^  As  the  faith- 
ful approached  the  scene  of  their  devotions  on  the 
29th  of  January,  they  found  it  surrounded  by  soldiers, 
who  turned  them  away,  and  this  guard  was  strictly 
maintained.  On  the  following  day,  a  famous  para- 
phrase of  the  ordinance  was  attached  to  the  door  of 
the  church.  "By  order  of  the  king,  God  is  forbidden 
to  work  miracles  in  this  place." ^  The  prohibition 
was  respected:  no  more  miracles  were  wrought  in  the 
cemetery  of  St.  Medard;  the  relics  of  the  blessed 
deacon  occasionally  effected  a  cure,  but  the  lame  and 
the  halt  no  longer  came  to  be  healed,  and  the  excite- 
ment slowly  abated.^ 

*  Ordinance  of  January  27,  1732. 
'  Barbier,  ii.  246. 

*  Relations  de  la  guerison  de  Marie  Elisabeth  Giroust.  These 
alleged  miracles  and  the  excitement  produced  by  them  are  de- 
scribed in  many  contemporary  pamphlets.  Barbier's  journal 
contains  full  accounts  of  them,  and  his  comments  are  a  fair  illus- 
tration of  the  views  of  intelligent  Parisians.  Barbier  was  nat- 
urally skeptical,  and  was  iuclined  to  question  the  cures,  but  he 
was  not  quite  sure  that  they  were  imaginary. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  WAB  OF  THE  POLISH   SUCCESSION. 

For  some  years  Fleury  succeeded  in  keeping  France 
at  peace,  though  it  needed  adroitness,  good  judgment, 
and  a  placid  temper  to  avoid  hostilities  without  sac- 
rifice of  national  prestige,  amid  the  varying  compli- 
cations of  Continental  politics.  On  February  1, 
1733,  Augustus  II.,  called  the  Strong,  and  more  re- 
nowned for  his  gallantries  than  for  his  wisdom,  died 
and  left  the  throne  of  Poland  vacant.  In  every  other 
European  kingdom  the  hereditary  form  of  monarchy 
was  firmly  established,  but  Poland  had  not  shared 
the  political  development  of  Europe ;  her  government, 
instead  of  growing  in  orderly  efficiency,  had  reached 
a  condition  of  administrative  paralysis.  Not  only  did 
the  nobles  elect  their  king,  but  they  had  stripped  his 
office  of  power,  and  their  order,  in  which  all  author- 
ity was  vested,  was  unruly,  lawless,  and  unfit  either 
to  govern  or  to  be  governed.  Surrounded  by  states 
in  which  centralized  forms  of  administration  had 
made  steady  progress,  Poland  was  not  far  removed 
from  chronic  anarchy,  and  her  dismemberment  might 
well  have  been  anticipated  long  before  it  was  accom- 
plished. Whatever  our  sympathy  with  a  nationality 
that  was  torn  asunder  by  unscrupulous  neighbors,  the 
condition  of  Poland  was  long  such  as  to  make  this 
result  ])ossible  and  probalile. 

In  view  of  this,  it  is  interesting  to  watch  one  of 
the  last  elections  of  a  Polish  sovereign,  to  see  the 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        113 

operations  of  a  government  which  was  soon  to  perish 
from  the  community  of  nations.  In  1704,  Stanislaus 
Leszczynski,  a  Polish  nobleman,  had  been  chosen 
king  of  Poland.  His  election  was  due  to  the  friendly 
influence  of  Charles  XII.,  then  at  the  height  of  his 
victorious  career,  and  after  the  disaster  of  Pultowa, 
when  the  Russians  espoused  the  interests  of  Augustus 
II.,  Stanislaus  fled  from  his  country,  and  for  many 
years  he  was  a  wanderer.  At  last  he  found  rest  in 
the  little  city  of  Weissenburg;  the  French  furnished 
him  shelter,  and  he  led  an  obscure  and  tranquil  life, 
devoted  to  his  family,  active  in  piety,  and  giving  to 
the  arts  and  sciences  the  attention  which  he  had  once 
bestowed  on  schemes  of  ambition. 

There  seemed  little  probability  that  Stanislaus 
would  be  drawn  from  this  tranquil  retreat  to  become 
again  a  prominent  figure  in  European  politics,  but 
for  the  second  time  a  sudden  change  of  fortune  over- 
took him,  and  in  1725  his  daughter  was  chosen  to 
become  the  wife  of  Louis  XV.  While  the  French 
ministers  were  content  with  the  daughter  of  a  deposed 
king  as  the  bride  of  their  monarch,  they  had  no  wish 
to  involve  France  in  endeavors  to  increase  the  dignity 
of  her  family,  and  it  was  plainly  stated  in  the  nego- 
tiations for  the  marriage  that  Stanislaus  must  not 
expect  France  to  aid  him  to  regain  his  throne.  A  fu- 
gitive monarch  was  in  no  condition  to  dictate  terms, 
and  moreover  Stanislaus  had  a  placid  and  contented 
mind;  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  preferred  the  stormy 
existence  of  a  Polish  king  to  the  comfortable  lot 
that  was  assured  to  the  father-in-law  of  Louis  XV. 
He  was  given  the  magnificent  chateau  of  Chambord  as 
a  residence,  and  there  for  many  years  he  enjoyed  a 
tranquil   splendor.     When   Augustus   II.    died,   the 


114  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

claims  of  Stanislaus  were  again  advanced.  The  ex- 
sovereign  was  not  strenuous  in  pressing  them,  and  if 
his  son-in-law  had  declined  to  assist  him,  Stanislaus 
would  probably  have  been  content  to  smoke  his  pipe 
and  pursue  his  studies  amid  the  beauties  of  Cham- 
bord.  But  the  French  minister  at  Warsaw  at  once 
began  scheming  for  the  election  of  Louis  XV. 's 
father-in-law  as  king  of  Poland,  and  to  these  endeav- 
ors the  French  government,  with  much  misgiving, 
promised  its  assistance.^ 

For  almost  two  centuries  France  had  furnished 
candidates  for  this  office,  though  when  we  consider 
the  remoteness  of  the  coimtry  and  the  nominal  au- 
thority of  the  sovereign,  it  is  difficidt  to  see  wherein  a 
French  king  of  Poland  could  be  a  valuable  ally.  In 
1572,  the  Duke  of  Anjou  was  chosen  to  the  office, 
and  abandoned  the  dignity  when  he  became  Henry 
III.  of  France.  In  the  next  century  various  princes 
of  Conde  and  of  Conti  aspired  to  the  Polish  throne, 
though  the  influence  of  France  was  not  sufficient  to 
secure  the  election  of  any  of  them.  It  was,  there- 
fore, in  accordance  with  traditional  policy  to  seek 
now  for  the  election  of  a  sovereign  who,  if  not  French 
in  race,  was  closely  allied  to  the  French  king. 

So  far  as  the  Poles  were  concerned  Stanislaus  was 
an  acceptable  candidate ;  he  was  Polish  by  blood  and 
the  member  of  an  ancient  and  illustrious  family ;  he 
hatl  once  been  their  sovereign,  and  had  been  driven 
from  the  throne  by  foreign  armies ;  he  was  a  man  of 

'  The  letters  of  Chauvelin  in  the  early  part  of  1733,  Ajf.  Efr., 
Pologne,  show  he  realized  that  even  if  Stanishius  was  elected, 
it  would  be  diflieult  for  France  to  sustain  him  on  the  throne  of 
a  remote  country.  (letters  of  May  22,  July  7,  etc.)  Those  ap- 
prehensions iMJcaiue  more  pronounced  as  the  ■  time  for  the  elec- 
tion approached. 


WAR  OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.       115 

amiable  character  and  personally  popular.  None  of 
these  considerations,  however,  would  have  gone  far 
towards  securing  his  election.  Poland  had  already 
reached  the  condition  where  her  sovereign  must  bo 
supported  by  some  foreign  state;  the  Polish  nobles 
chose  the  king,  but  it  was  beyond  their  power  to 
maintain  him  in  his  office.  Stanislaus  had  been 
raised  to  the  throne  at  the  command  of  Charles  XII.,  * 
and  had  been  deposed  by  the  army  of  Peter  the 
Great.  Russian  and  Saxon  armies  were  now  gather- 
ing at  the  frontier.  Austria  and  Prussia  were  inter- 
esting themselves  in  the  choice  of  a  new  sovereign, 
and  these  powerful  neighbors  would  not  respect  the 
selection  made  by  the  Poles  unless  it  was  acceptable 
to  themselves. 

For  another  reason  the  personal  qualities  of  the 
candidate  were  of  little  importance.  The  Polish  no- 
bility was  as  corrupt  as  it  was  turbulent  and  unruly, 
and  the  election  of  a  Polish  king  was  a  scene  of  more 
scandalous  bribery  than  is  witnessed  in  days  of  uni- 
versal suffrage.  The  liberty  demanded  b}"^  a  Polish 
noble,  it  was  said,  was  the  liberty  to  sell  his  vote, 
and  the  French  minister,  an  adroit  man  and  well 
versed  in  Polish  politics,  informed  his  government 
that  if  it  was  desired  to  secure  the  election  of  Stanis- 
laus, money  must  be  supplied  with  a  liberal  hand. 
"The  election  of  Stanislaus,"  he  writes,  "can  only 
be  secured  by  money,  which  is  the  great  incentive  for 
everything  in  this  country."  And  he  declared  that 
six  or  seven  millions  would  be  needed  to  insure  the 
result.^     "Formerly,"  he  said  sadly,  "one  could  buy 

1  Monti  to  king,  February  2G,  1733,  Cor.  de  Polngne,  Aff.Etr. 
All  the  details  in  reference  to  Stanislaus's  election  I  have  taken 
from  the  correspoudeuce  in  the  French  foreign  office,  which  has 


116  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

a  Pole  for  a  moderate  sum,  but  this  is  no  longer  so."  * 
In  the  ignoble  intrigues  which  now  began  we  find  the 
bearers  of  the  most  illustrious  names  in  Polish  history 
engaged  in  trafficking  for  their  votes,  —  the  Ponia- 
towskis,  the  Raczynskis,  the  Potockis,  the  Ogin- 
skis.  Some  demanded  offices ;  a  few  scrupled  to  take 
money,  said  the  minister,  and  would  be  pleased  to 
receive  jewels  and  watches  of  value,  but  the  true 
Pole  preferred  specie.^  Some  admitted  that  it  was 
shameful  to  sell  their  votes,  but  they  pleaded  that 
such  was  the  custom,  and  that  an  election  was  their 
harvest  time.^  The  ambassador  of  the  emperor  was 
also  at  Warsaw,  and  there  was  great  excitement  in  the 
capital  when  two  wagons,  attended  by  a  strong  guard, 
and  loaded,  it  was  said,  with  money  to  be  used  at 
the  election,  were  driven  to  his  residence.*  Those 
who  were  willing  to  sell  themselves  once  might  be 
tempted  to  sell  to  both  parties,  and  the  French  min- 
ister was  instructed  to  be  liberal  in  his  promises,  but 
so  far  as  possible,  to  defer  the  time  of  payment  until 
the  votes  had  been  cast.^ 

In  such  a  contest  as  this  the  French  were  apt  to  be 
successful;  their  diplomatic  agents  were  usually  men 
of  adroitness,  energy,  and  experience,  and  France 
could  furnish  a  large  amount  of  ready  money  with 

not  before,  I  think,  been  examined  on  this  question.  It  gives 
much  information  as  to  the  condition  of  the  Polish  nobility  and 
of  the  Polish  government  at  this  time. 

^  Mouti  to  king,  February  1,  1733  ;  to  Chauvelin,  April  11. 

*  Letters  of  Monti  of  April  11,  May  29,  July  8,  etc.,  Cor.  de 
Pol. 

*  Monti  to  king,  March  1, 1733.  «'  C'^tait  I'usage  et  le  tems 
de  lenr  moissou." 

*  Cor.  de  Pol.,  lib.  204-208,  pas. 
6  i6.,202,  13G,;kw. 


WAR  OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.       117 

more  promptness  than  any  other  Continental  country. 
Nearly  eleven  million  livres  were  sent  to  the  Marquis 
of  Monti,  more  than  half  of  the  annual  revenues  of 
the  kingdom  of  Prussia  at  this  time,  and  the  larger 
part  of  this  great  sum  was  used  in  purchasing  the 
support  of  the  Polish  nobility  for  the  candidacy  of 
Stanislaus.^  It  was  not  used  in  vain.  Monti  se- 
cured the  influence  of  the  most  powerful  members  of 
the  Polish  aristocracy,  and  Stanislaus,  who  had  been 
loath  to  leave  Chambord  until  his  election  was  as- 
sured, now  traveled  through  Germany  in  disguise, 
and  in  September,  1733,  arrived  at  Warsaw,  where 
the  Polish  Diet  had  convened  to  elect  a  king. 

The  spectacle  presented  by  this  assembly  could  be 
paralleled  nowhere  else  in  the  world.  In  the  great 
plains  by  the  Vistula,  sixty  thousand  Polish  nobles 
were  gathered,  each  of  whom  not  only  had  the  right  to 
vote  at  the  election  of  a  sovereign  and  on  all  other 
questions  of  importance  to  the  state,  but  by  his  single 
veto  could  check  any  action  of  his  associates,  and 
paralyze  the  republic;  they  were  arrayed  in  a  mag- 
nificence which  rivaled  the  splendors  of  the  courtiers 
of  Versailles,  though  their  dress  indicated  the  freer 
life  to  which  they  were  accustomed,  and  their  closer 
connection  with  the  east  than  with  the  west  of  Europe ; 
they  were  proficient  in  all  feats  of  arms,  perfect  in 
their  skill  as  horsemen,  fierce  in  their  impatience  of 
control,  proud  of  their  independence,  and  strongly 
attached  to  the  country  which  their  lawlessness  was 
ere  long  to  bring  to  final  overthrow. 

Amid  all  this  chivalric  splendor  a  regard  for  vulgar 
interest  was  by  no  means  unknown;  now  that  they 

.  ^  See  Mdin.  of  December,  1733  ;  Cor.  tie  Pol.,  letters  of  Muuti 
of  Jime  1,  1734,  etc. 


118  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

were  on  the  eve  of  the  election,  the  pressure  on  the 
French  minister  for  material  aid,  in  return  for  sup- 
port of  his  candidate,  became  constantly  more  severe. 
He  was  besieged  by  people  asking  for  money;  they 
followed  him  into  his  chamber  to  press  their  demands, 
and  threatened  to  espouse  the  interest  of  the  other 
party  unless  their  pay  was  forthcoming.^  But  Monti 
had  sufficient  money  and  sufficient  adroitness  to  keep 
his  hold  over  this  unruly  multitude. 

It  was  whispered  about  that  Stanislaus,  their  past 
and  their  future  sovereign,  had  actually  arrived  at 
Warsaw,  and,  though  as  yet  he  was  kept  in  seclusion, 
the  knowledge  of  his  presence  encouraged  his  follow- 
ers. All  was  now  ready  for  the  election,  and  the 
manner  in  which  this  was  conducted  savored  of  the 
romantic  picturesqueness  which  was  always  the  charm, 
and  often  the  weakness,  of  Polish  institutions.  The 
primate  of  Poland  was  the  official  charged  with  the 
duty  of  collecting  the  votes,  and  this  great  ecclesiastic 
was  a  cavalier  bearing  little  resemblance  to  some 
plump  bishop  ambling  about  on  his  episcopal  palfrey. 
Moimting  his  horse  the  Archbishop  of  Gnesen  rode 
in  hot  haste  from  one  palatinate  to  another,  bidding 
them  name  their  choice  for  sovereign  of  the  republic. 
So  great  was  the  number  that,  though  he  was  seven 
hours  on  horseback,  he  was  unable  to  complete  the 
rounds,  but  on  the  following  day  the  task  was  accom- 
plished. He  returned  to  a  tent  where  the  chief  offi- 
cers were  collected,  and  from  which  floated  the  great 
standard  of  the  republic.  This  was  soon  surrounded 
by  deputations  from  the  palatinates,  all  mounted  and 
demanding  vociferously  that  a  king  should  be  named. 

1  Monti  to  kiiig,  September  9,  1733,  Aff.  Etr.,  208.  "  Jamais 
la  cupiditd  u'a  ^tc  purltSu  ^  la  puiute  qu'elle  est,"  Le  writes. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        119 

In  response  to  these  outcries  the  primate  at  last  ap- 
peared, and  asked  those  present  if  they  would  have 
Stanislaus  for  their  king.  They  all  replied  yes.  This 
question  was  thrice  repeated,  and  upon  the  third  reply 
the  primate  said,  "It  is  as  you  will  it,  and  I  declare 
Stanislaus  Grand  Duke  of  Lithuania  and  King  of 
Poland."  This  was  greeted  by  a  discharge  of  guns 
by  the  horsemen.  No  sooner  had  the  proclamation 
been  made  than  the  new  king  appeared  and  showed 
himself  to  his  followers.  He  had  been  careful  to 
array  himself  in  thS  national  dress,  and,  followed  by  a 
great  concourse,  he  proceeded  to  the  cathedral,  where 
the  Te  Deum  was  sung  amid  the  booming  of  cannon. 
A  small  party  was  opposed  to  the  choice,  but  no  one 
ventured  to  proclaim  the  traditional  veto  which  tech- 
nically would  have  defeated  the  election;  those  op- 
posed contented  themselves  with  leaving  the  electoral 
field  and  riding  off  to  join  the  Russian  forces.^ 

Thus  Stanislaus  was  elected  to  the  Polish  throne 
with  the  good  will  of  a  majority  of  the  Polish  people, 
but  it  was  soon  shown  how  unimportant  was  their 
choice  and  how  powerless  was  the  Polish  government. 
The  sixty  thousand  nobles,  when  they  had  satisfied  their 
enthusiasm  by  firing  guns  and  displaying  their  horse- 
manship, returned  to  their  homes ;  the  king  found  no 
money  in  the  treasury,  and  there  were  no  means  of 
raising  any  regular  sums  by  taxation ;  there  was  no 
army  deserving  the  name;  an  organized  Polish  army 
had  not  gathered  together  since  John  Sobieski  led 
them  to  the  rescue  of  Vienna.^ 

^  A  full  account  of  the  election,  alike  its  formalities  and  its 
secret  workings,  is  given  by  the  French  ambassador.  Cor.  de 
Pol.,  lib.  208,  letters  of  September  12,  15,  etc. 

2  Monti  to  king,  December  24,  1733. 


120  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  influence  of  Russia  in 
Polish  politics  steadily  increased,  and  as  the  govern- 
ment of  Poland  became  more  disorganized,  it  was  the 
easier  for  a  foreign  power  to  deal  with  that  country 
as  a  subject  state.  The  Russians  had  gathered  a 
considerable  army  to  compel  the  election  of  a  king 
who  would  be  in  their  interest;  they  now  advanced 
rapidly  upon  Warsaw,  and  Stanislaus  had  absolutely 
no  forces  with  which  to  oppose  them.  Ten  days  after 
his  election  he  fled  from  Warsaw  at  midnight,  and 
found  refuge  at  Dantzic.  The  Russian  army,  thirty 
thousand  strong,  advanced  to  Warsaw  without  resist- 
ance. It  was  easy  to  find  factions  who  would  espouse 
any  cause ;  another  election  was  held,  and  the  Elector 
of  Saxony,  the  candidate  of  Russia  and  of  the  em- 
peror, was  declared  king  as  Augustus  III.  He  was 
supported  by  foreign  troops,  and  was  obliged  to  ask 
no  aid  from  his  Polish  followers,  nor  did  he  meet 
with  any  opposition  from  those  who  had  advocated  the 
election  of  Stanislaus.  In  January  he  was  peaceably 
consecrated  at  Crac6w  as  king  of  Poland. 

In  the  mean  time  Stanislaus  remained  at  Dantzic, 
imploring  the  French  to  come  to  his  aid.  The  French 
ministers  had  foreseen  difficulties  in  supporting  their 
candidate,  but  they  were  somewhat  surprised  when 
they  realized  the  entire  absence  of  any  organized  gov- 
ernment in  this  ill-fated  kingdom.  Their  representa- 
tive wrote  that  if  the  French  coidd  send  an  army,  it 
was  possible  that  the  Poles  would  rally  about  it,  but 
without  foreign  aid  nothing  could  be  expected  from 
Poland.  "I  am  sorry  we  did  not  know  long  ago," 
Chauvelin  replied,  "that  we  must  count  the  Poles 
absolutely  for  nothing,  and  must  ourselves  take  the 
whole  burden  of  the  war."^  Such  was,  however, 
^  Chauvelin  to  Monti,  January  13,  1734. 


WAR  OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.       121 

precisely  the  case.  It  was  impossible  for  the  French 
to  send  to  a  country  a  thousand  miles  distant  an  army 
that  could  successfully  oppose  the  forces  of  Kussia, 
Austria,  and  Saxony.  Louis  announced  that  he  should 
regard  an  invasion  of  Poland  as  an  act  of  hostility 
against  France;  his  remonstrance  was  unheeded;  the 
allied  armies  continued  their  advance,  and  war  was 
declared  forthwith.  This  was  of  little  service  to  the 
unfortunate  Stanislaus,  who  remained  in  Dantzic, 
very  infirm  in  body  and  very  low  in  mind,  finding  for 
the  second  time  how  perilous  an  honor  it  was  to  be 
the  king  of  Poland. 

In  the  spring  of  1734,  the  Eussian  army  advanced 
to  Dantzic  and  laid  siege  to  the  place.  The  citizens 
were  friendly  to  Stanislaus,  but  they  had  no  desire  to 
endure  a  bombardment  when  it  was  certain  that  the 
city  could  not  long  resist  without  foreign  aid.  It  was 
soon  plain  that  no  sufficient  assistance  would  be  fur- 
nished. The  French  tried  to  obtain  an  army  from 
Sweden,  but  the  endeavor  was  not  successful.  Fred-^, 
erick  William  of  Prussia  was  appealed  to,  but  his  in- 
terests were  with  the  other  side ;  he  offered  to  furnish 
a  retreat  in  case  of  need  upon  his  usual  terms,  that 
he  should  be  given  a  certain  number  of  tall  soldiers, 
but  he  was  not  inclined  to  expose  his  giants  to  the 
danger  of  being  shot.^  At  last  the  French  sent  a 
small  reinforcement  of  about  fifteen  hundred  men 
with  a  few  ships;  they  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Vistula,  but  were  unable  to  reach  Dantzic.  A  Rus- 
sian fleet  of  twelve  sail  presently  made  its  appearance 
on  the  Baltic,  and  the  French  contingent  was  forced 
to  surrender. 

Thus  Stanislaus  was  left  entirely  helpless.    Of  sixty 
1  Monti  to  king,  November  12,  1733. 


122  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

thousand  nobles  who  had  gathered  on  the  electoral 
field,  there  were  few  who  came  to  the  assistance  of  the 
sovereign  they  had  chosen.  Indeed,  it  was  almost  im- 
possible that  they  should ;  there  was  no  organization 
for  an  army,  no  money  with  which  to  pay  troops  or 
purchase  provisions.  "We  have,"  said  the  French 
minister,  "neither  powder,  nor  ball,  nor  troops,  nor 
generals;"  and  a  little  later  he  wrote  with  a  just 
though  a  tardy  recognition  of  the  actual  condition  of 
things,  "This  tragedy  will  soon  be  finished."^ 

Though  the  Russians  did  not  press  the  siege  of 
Dantzic  with  much  vigor,  the  condition  of  the  town 
soon  became  desperate ;  bombs  were  constantly  falling 
in  the  streets,  the  country  about  was  laid  waste,  and 
the  citizens  were  unwilling  to  expose  themselves  to 
entire  ruin  in  a  hopeless  cause.  Stanislaus  was  a 
humane  man,  and  was  loath  to  involve  his  followers 
in  further  disaster,  but  it  was  now  difficult  to  make 
his  escape,  and  he  was  justly  apprehensive  of  the  fate 
which  might  await  him  if  he  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Russian  troops.  He  resolved,  however,  to  make 
an  attempt  at  flight,  and  to  seek  a  refuge  in  more 
orderly  lands.  Various  offers  of  assistance  were  made 
him  by  a  people  always  ready  for  acts  of  daring. 
One  lady,  he  says,  like  a  true  heroine,  even  offered 
to  take  him  away  as  her  husband,  but  he  declined  to 
involve  both  her  and  himself  in  the  perils  of  such  an 
expedition,  and  a  little  before  midnight  on  the  27th 
of  June,  1734,  he  made  his  escape  from  Dantzic  in 
the  disguise  of  a  peasant.  The  country  around  was 
flooded,  and  Russian  parties  were  patrolling  it  as  best 
they  could,  on  the  lookout  for  the  fugitive,  and 
arresting  and  examining  every  peasant  whose  height 
1  Mouti  to  Chauvelin,  April  7,  1734. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        123 

and  appearance  corresponded  to  that  of  the  king. 
For  ten  days  Stanislaus  wandered  over  the  marshes, 
environed  by  dangers  and  with  liussian  camps  ahnost 
constantly  in  view.  Sometimes  he  and  his  party 
made  their  way  in  boats,  and  again  they  had  to  walk 
through  mud,  sinking  in  it  to  their  knees.  He  lay 
for  some  hours  concealed  in  the  garret  of  a  peasant's 
house,  listening  to  the  talk  of  a  party  of  Cossacks 
who  had  taken  possession  of  the  rooms  below.  At 
another  time,  as  he  chanced  to  look  for  a  minute 
from  the  window,  he  saw  some  Russians  guarding 
their  horses  not  twenty  paces  away.  The  men  who 
undertook  to  assist  his  escape  were  rascals  of  the 
most  pronounced  type,  and  the  only  comfort  the  fugi- 
tive found  was  in  the  society  of  a  bankrupt  merchant 
who  was  also  engaged  in  making  his  way  from  Po- 
land. His  followers  were  alarmed  at  the  dangers 
in  which  they  were  involved  and  afraid  of  the  ven- 
geance of  the  Russians,  and  his  only  resource,  he 
writes,  was  in  the  brandy  with  which  he  was  sup- 
plied: when  he  furnished  it  sparingly  to  his  attend- 
ants, they  saw  in  advance  perils  which  they  refused 
to  encounter;  but  when  it  was  handed  around  with 
sufficient  liberality,  they  were  ready  to  lead  him  right 
through  the  Russian  camps.  After  many  trials  the 
party  at  last  got  over  the  Vistula,  and,  by  professing 
to  be  a  butcher  in  search  of  cattle  and  making  liberal 
agreements  to  purchase  of  the  farmers,  Stanislaus 
succeeded  in  inducing  them  to  transport  him  across 
the  Prussian  frontier.^  There  he  was  in  safety,  but 
any  chance  of  wearing  the  Polish  crown  was  forfeited 
by  his  flight  from  the  country ;  the  war  which  nomi- 

^  An  account  of  Stanislaus's  escape  from  Dantzic,  written  by 
himself,  is  found  in  Cor.  de  Pol.,  Aff.  Etr. 


124  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

y^nally  began  to  make  Stanislaus  king  of  Poland  was 
continued  with  a  different  purpose. 

Louis  XV.  had  declared  that  he  would  protect 
Poland  in  her  rights ;  the  election  of  Stanislaus  was 
naturally  recognized  by  France  as  the  lawful  choice 
of  the  Polish  people,  and  when  the  Russian  armies, 
acting  in  harmony  with  the  emperor,  invaded  Poland 
and  chased  the  king  from  his  capital,  the  French  were 
forced  to  regard  this  as  a  cause  for  war,  or  abandon 
the  position  they  had  taken.  No  one  thought  of 
doing  the  latter.  Chauvelin,  the  minister  for  foreign 
affairs,  was  an  ambitious  man,  and  full  of  plans  for 
remodeling  Europe ;  the  nobility  were  to  a  large  ex- 
tent officers  in  the  army,  and  always  in  favor  of  a 
war  policy,  and  Louis  was  anxious  to  secure  a  king- 
dom for  his  father-in-law.  Fleury  indeed,  now  as 
always,  viewed  war  with  apprehension,  and  wished  to 
gain  for  his  administration  the  mild  fame  of  a  period 
of  tranquil  prosperity,  but  he  was  not  the  man  to 
stem  any  strong  current  of  popular  feeling. 

On  the  10th  of  October,  1733,  a  solemn  proclama- 
tion stated  the  wrongs  perpetrated  by  the  emperor  in 
interfering  with  the  liberties  of  the  Polish  people  and 
affronting  the  French  king  their  protector,  and  war 
was  declared  upon  Austria.  A  French  army  at  once 
crossed  the  Rhine,  but  the  only  important  military 
operations  were  in  Italy.  No  sooner  was  it  apparent 
that  hostilities  with  Austria  were  inevitable  than  the 
French  endeavored  to  obtain  Sardinia  as  an  ally 
against  that  power.  Charles  Emmanuel  III.  was 
now  king  of  Sardinia,  a  prince  who  in  courage,  in 
acuteness  of  intellect,  in  a  judicious  ambition,  and  in 
entire  indifference  as  to  the  means  by  which  he  ad- 
vanced it,  resembled  a  long  line  of  illustrious  ances- 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.       125 

tors.  His  father,  Victor  Amadeus  II.,  had  shown 
himself  the  equal  in  ability  of  any  European  sover- 
eign ;  by  wisely  choosing  when  to  espouse  and  when 
to  discard  the  alliances  offered  him,  he  had  succeeded 
in  shaking  off  the  tutelage  in  which  Louis  XIV. 
sought  to  hold  him ;  he  had  added  largely  to  his  pos- 
sessions ;  he  had  ceased  to  be  merely  a  Duke  of  Savoy, 
and  had  received  the  more  sounding  title  of  King  of 
Sardinia.  In  1730,  Victor  had  reigned  for  fifty-eight 
years,  and  whether  he  was  weary  of  the  burdens  of 
state,  or  wished  to  marry  a  lady,  whom  for  lack  of 
sufficient  rank  it  would  have  been  unseemly  to  declare 
a  queen,  in  September  of  that  year  he  amazed  his 
subjects  by  abdicating  the  throne  in  favor  of  his  son 
Charles  Emmanuel.  His  retirement  was  attributed 
by  some  to  a  desire  to  live  in  acknowledged  wedlock 
with  his  new  wife;  except  for  this  consideration, 
wrote  the  French  minister,  the  king's  conduct  would 
have  been  nothing  less  than  heroic.^  Others  said 
that  Victor  had  promised  support  to  both  Spain  and 
the  emperor  in  their  Italian  quarrels,  and  a  dread 
of  complications  led  him  to  abdicate;  but  the  king 
of  Sardinia  had  betrayed  both  sides  all  his  life,  and 
was  not  apt  to  be  dismayed  at  the  results  of  any 
double  dealing  at  that  late  day.  At  all  events,  he 
retired  to  the  chateau  of  Chambery;  there,  he  said, 
with  his  wife,  a  valet  de  chambre,  two  cooks,  and  a 
moderate  income,  he  would  lead  a  happy  life  as  a 
country  gentleman.'^ 

If  such  was  ever  his  purpose,  within  a  year  he 
changed  his  mind.     It  had  been  hinted  that  when  he 

*  Blondel  to  Chauvelin,  September  4,  1730,   Cor.  de  Turin^ 
Aff.  Etr. 
^  Conversation  with  Blondel,  reported  by  him,  Cor.  de  Turin. 


126  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

abdicated  iu  favor  of  Charles  Emmanuel,  he  pru- 
dently obtained  from  his  son  a  promise  to  vacate  the 
throne  should  the  father  again  wish  to  fill  it.  If 
Charles  had  made  any  such  promise,  he  did  not  feel 
more  bound  by  a  family  agreement  than  his  father 
had  been  by  covenants  with  foreign  powers.  In  the 
autumn  of  1731,  the  old  king  showed  a  desire  to  re- 
sume his  former  position;  he  held  conferences  with 
his  son's  ministers,  who  had  formerly  been  his  own; 
he  complained  of  his  son's  ignorance  of  the  art  of 
government,  and  manifested  a  strong  desire  to  get 
possession  of  the  abdication  which  he  had  signed. 
Charles  had  announced  to  the  world  that  his  father 
had  renoimced  greatness  in  order  to  devote  his  re- 
maining years  wholly  to  God,  and  he  did  not  intend 
to  have  this  statement  falsified.  A  detachment  of 
soldiers  proceeded  by  night  to  the  chateau  where  the 
ex-king  was;  they  forced  their  entrance,  found  him 
in  bed,  and  presented  an  order  for  his  arrest;  he  re- 
fused to  obey,  and  his  wife  threw  her  arms  about  him 
to  protect  him  from  his  enemies.  This  exhibition  of 
matrimonial  devotion  was  without  avail;  some  grena- 
diers seized  the  wife  and  bore  her  off,  lightly  clad, 
but  struggling  vigorously;  the  officers  dressed  the 
king,  put  him  in  a  carriage,  and  he  was  carried  under 
a  strong  guard  to  the  castle  of  Rivoli.  The  son  ex- 
pressed fears  lest  his  father  in  some  fit  of  excitement 
should  commit  violence  on  himself,  and  to  ward  off 
such  dangers  he  had  him  kept  in  a  room  with  heavily 
grated  windows,  and  under  the  surveillance  of  guards 
who  never  allowed  him  out  of  sight. 

The  respect  for  monarchs  was  strong  in  Europe; 
they  were  still  hedged  about  by  a  certain  sanctity,  and 
the  announcement  that  the  old  king  of  Sardinia,  the 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        127 

grandfather  of  Louis  XV.,  had  been  arrested  by  his 
son  and  was  kept  in  close  confinement  bade  fair  to 
excite  international  complications.  The  French  felt 
that  they  could  not  allow  such  conduct  to  pass  unno- 
ticed, but  to  their  demands  for  explanation,  as  to  aU 
similar  requests,  Charles  Emmanuel  replied  that  he 
had  been  reluctantly  driven  to  this  step  by  the  unfor- 
tunate mental  hallucinations  of  his  father  and  by  the 
danger  of  public  disturbance.  No  foreign  nation  felt 
sufficient  interest  to  interfere,  and  Victor  Amadeus 
remained  a  prisoner  in  close  confinement  in  the  castle 
of  Rivoli  until  his  death.  ^ 

If  Charles  Emmanuel  was  not  a  dutiful  son,  he 
was  a  good  politician,  and  when  the  French  applied 
for  his  aid  against  the  emperor,  he  decided  that  the 
interest  of  Sardinia  lay  in  espousing  their  cause; 
from  them  he  could  certainly  obtain  liberal  promises 
of  reward,  for,  as  the  sagacious  rulers  of  his  house 
had  long  discovered,  Milan  was  most  freely  offered  by 
those  to  whom  it  did  not  belong;  even  if  the  payment 
did  not  equal  the  promise,  it  was  apt  to  be  more  than 
Austria  would  surrender  from  her  patrimony  in  return 
for  his  aid. 

There  were  many  difficulties  in  agreeing  on  the 
terms  of  a  treaty,  and  these  arose,  not  from  what 
France  wanted  for  herself,  but  for  her  proteges.  At 
first  the  French  did  indeed  ask  the  cession  of  Savoy 

1  "  Et  ce  Victor,  attrap^,  tour  a  tour, 

Par  son  orgeuil,  par  son  fils,  par  I'amour," 

wrote  Voltaire.  The  account  of  his  abdication  and  subsequent 
conduct  is  taken  from  the  letters  found  in  the  Correspondance 
de  Twin,  1730,  1731,  Ajf.  Etr.  Also  a  memoir  found  in  Mem. 
et  Doc.  Sardai.gne,  Aff'.  Etr.,  written  by  a  former  minister  from 
Sardinia  to  England.  The  writer,  though  well  informed,  en- 
deavored to  justify  in  all  respects  his  present  master. 


128  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

as  compensation  for  their  services  in  winning  new 
territories  for  the  king  of  Sardinia,  and  if  they  had 
been  willing  to  give  him  all  that  he  asked  in  Lom- 
hardy,  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  would  have  made 
the  bargain.^  But  the  French  were  forced  to  with- 
draw their  claim  for  Savoy  because  they  were  so 
persistent  in  their  demands  for  the  infante ;  on  this 
occasion,  as  during  innimierable  diplomatic  contro- 
versies in  the  century,  the  interests  of  France  were 
sacrificed  to  obtain  something  for  the  Bourbon  princes 
of  Spain. 

The  demands  now  made  were  exceedingly  distaste- 
ful to  the  king  of  Sardinia.  It  was  one  of  the  unfor- 
tunate results  of  the  Spanish  alliance  that  not  only 
was  Spain  too  infirm  to  be  of  much  assistance,  but 
by  espousing  her  interests  France  excited  the  ani- 
mosity of  allies  who  would  have  been  of  more  value ; 
the  establishment  of  the  Spanish  Bourbons  in  Italy 
alienated  the  House  of  Savoy ;  by  allying  herself  with 
a  weak  and  decaying  monarchy,  France  aroused  the 
ill  will  of  an  active  and  growing  state.  The  efforts 
of  Elizabeth  Farnese  to  obtain  Parma  for  her  son 
had  not  been  looked  on  by  Savoy  with  a  friendly 
eye,  but  in  1731,  Don  Carlos  at  last  took  possession 
of  the  provinces  secured  for  him.  Though  the  old 
Victor  was  kept  in  rigorous  captivity,  he  had  lost 
none  of  his  interest  in  the  national  development  which 
his  sagatnous  policy  had  done  so  much  to  further,  and 
he  regarded  the  establishment  of  the  infante  as  a 
menace  to  the  future  growth  of  Savoy.  "If  my 
plans  had  been  followed,"  said  the  old  man,   "Don 

1  Vaulgrcnant  to  Chauvclin,  May  23, 1733,  and  Cor.  de  Turin, 
pas. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.       129 

Carlos  would  never  have  set  foot  on  Italian  soil  with- 
out bloodshed."^ 

It  was  one  of  the  schemes  of  Chauvelin,  as  later  it 
was  one  of  the  dreams  of  Argenson,  that  the  Aus- 
trians  shoidd  be  driven  out  of  Italy,  and  that  country 
no  longer  be  ruled  by  some  foreign  state,  but  by 
^princes  who  woidd  dwell  among  their  people.  The 
House  of  Savoy  was  quite  willing  that  Italy  should 
be  freed  from  foreign  rule,  but  if  Austria  was  to  be 
dispossessed,  it  was  that  Sardinia  should  take  her 
place;  it  was  no  part  of  the  aspiring  policy  of  the 
rulers  of  Piedmont  to  expel  the  Austrians  in  order  to 
replace  them  with  Bourbon  princes,  who,  with  France 
for  a  protector,  might  prove  far  more  uncomfortable 
neighbors.  It  was,  therefore,  with  a  bad  grace  that 
Charles  Emmanuel  heard  the  French  demand  a  share 
of  the  Austrian  possessions  for  the  Spanish  princes, 
and  he  refused  absolutely  to  relinquish  in  their  favor 
his  own  ambitions  in  Northern  Italy.  If  the  Spanish 
must  have  something,  he  preferred  to  let  Spain  herself 
take  Naples  and  Sicily;  he  knew  the  weakness  of 
that  government,  and  he  was  sure  that  possessions 
held  by  so  infirm  a  power  would  not  prove  a  serious 
hindrance  to  the  development  of  Sardinia. 

It  was  to  no  avail  that  he  made  such  suggestions ; 
it  was  not  for  Spain  that  Elizabeth  Farnese  intended 
the  Spanish  soldiers  should  go  to  war;  the  French 
said  plainly  that  only  by  the  offer  of  advantages  to 
the  queen's  children  could  aid  be  obtained  from  the 
country  which  was  nominally  ruled  by  Philip  V.^ 
It  was  with   reluctance  that  Charles  Emmanuel  at 

1  Cor.  de  Turin,  164,  24,  letter  of  May  26,  1732. 

^  This  question  is  much  discussed  in  the  correspondence  of 
Fleury  and  Charles  Emmanuel,  Cor.  de  Turiji,  100.  See,  also, 
letters  of  Chauvelin  for  1733,  Aff.  Etr. 


130  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

last  consented  that  France  might  conquer  Naples 
and  Sicily  and  the  Tuscan  ports,  and  give  them  to 
Don  Carlos,  for  whom  French  influence  and  his 
mother's  exertions  had  already  secured  the  duchies  of 
Parma  and  Piacenza.  As  a  compensation  for  giving 
away  what  did  not  belong  to  him,  Charles  received 
the  promise  for  himself  of  the  whole  of  the  great 
duchy  of  Milan,  the  aid  of  forty  thousand  French 
troops,  and  a  liberal  subsidy.  In  September,  1733, 
the  treaty  of  Turin  was  signed.  All  that  the  French 
obtained  by  it  was  the  permission  to  conquer  some 
additional  territory  for  Louis  XV. 's  cousin.^ 

If  Charles  was  unwilling  to  see  the  children  of  the  ■ 
Spanish  queen  established  in  Italy,  she  was  still  more 
irritated  that  any  of  the  possessions  of  Austria  sliould 
be  given  to  Savoy.  She  regarded  then^  all  as  the 
future  patrimony  of  her  own  offspring,  and,  imlike 
her  sagacious  rival,  she  would  not  accept  the  actual 
'  situation  and  wait  for  time  to  furnish  new  opportuni- 
ties. Fleury  had  long  been  regarded  with  aversion 
at  the  court  of  Madrid  because  he  would  not  involve 
France  in  war  in  support  of  the  claims  of  Don  Carlos, 
and  though  the  prospect  of  obtaining  Sicily  and 
Naples  was  welcome,  yet  Elizabeth  would  not  agi-ee 
that  Milan  should  go  to  the  king  of  Sardinia. 

It  was  true,  indeed,  that  the  duchy  of  Milan  be- 
longed to  Austria,  and  it  was  easier  to  say  who  shoidd 
have  it  than  to  take  it  from  its  present  owner,  and  it 
was  equally  true  that  it  would  be  a  most  formidable 
undertaking  to  attempt  conquests  in  Italy  against  the 
opposition  of  both  Austria  and  Savoy.     These  reflec- 

'  Tlie  treaty  of  Turin  is  found  in  Cor.  de  Turin,  IGO,  lGC-180. 
Some  sliglit  exceptions  from  the  Milanese  are  not  ini|)ortant. 
Savoy  was  to  have  the  duchy  as  it  was  granted  to  Philip  II. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        131 

tions  did  not  affect  Elizabeth's  views;  she  had  that 
absohxte  confidence  in  the  accomplishment  of  her  pur- 
poses which  is  often  found  in  those  whose  desires  are 
stronfj.  The  establishment  of  her  sons  as  rulers  over 
most  of  Italy  was  the  object  of  her  life ;  for  this  end 
she  knew  she  could  command  whatever  resources 
Spain  had,  and  she  strenuously  demanded  the  aid  of 
France  as  a  duty  that  country  owed  to  the  uncle  of 
her  king. 

The  relations  between  France  and  Spain  have  been 
much  discussed,  and  such  weight  has  been  attached  to 
the  famous  series  of  family  compacts,  alike  by  states- 
men and  by  political  writers,  that  it  may  be  well  to 
consider  them  and  their  results.  Bourbon  princes  on 
the  Spanish  throne,  it  has  been  asserted  in  this  cen- 
tury quite  as  stoutly  as  in  the  last,  were  a  tower  of 
strength  to  Franca,  and  therefore  a  menace  to  Eu- 
rope; those  who  are  "billing  to  study  the  facts  may 
decide  that  France  would  have  been  better  off  if  no 
Bourbon  had  ever  ruled  at  Madrid. 

In  the  later  years  of  Louis  XIV. 's  life,  to  place 
one  of  his  descendants  on  the  Spanish  throne  was  the 
chief  object  of  his  ambition.  Such  was  not  the  policy 
of  the  early  part  of  his  reign.  During  thirty  years 
the  king  pursued  with  more  or  less  of  wisdom  and 
success  the  course  marked  out  by  Richelieu  and  Maz- 
arin;  he  did  not  seek  to  make  remote  conquests, 
nor  to  place  his  family  on  foreign  thrones :  he  sought 
acquisitions  for  France  that  would  enhance  the  diffi- 
culties of  foreign  invasion,  and  that  could  be  amalga- 
mated into  a  powerful  and  homogeneous  nationality. 
These  had  been  the  traditions  of  French  national 
growth,  of  which  the  French  monarchy  had  long  been 
the  faithful  exponent,  and  with  such  a  policy  France 


132  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

had  expanded  until  the  duchy  of  Hugh  Capet  had 
become  the  most  powerful  kingdom  in  Europe. 

The  increase  in  monarchical  authority,  which  had 
in  many  regards  been  advantageous  to  the  develop- 
ment of  France,  came  in  time  to  hinder  instead  of 
foster  the  national  growth.  Tlie  king  had  been  the 
visible  embodiment  of  the  conception  of  national 
unity,  and  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  be  freed 
from  the  harassing  interference  of  nobles  whose  aims 
were  personal  or  local;  a  king  was  not  in  condition 
to  add  Alsace  or  Franche-Comte  to  France  when  his 
attention  was  absorbed  in  enforcing  order  in  Brittany 
or  reducing  Guienne  to  obedience.  But  the  concep- 
tion of  the  king  as  a  national  leader  changed  in  time 
to  that  of  a  monarch  ruling  by  divine  right,  a  supe- 
rior being,  for  whose  glory  or  pleasure  his  subjects 
were  boimd  to  sacrifice  their  fortunes  and  their  lives. 
It  was  a  natural  result  oi  this  new  theory  that  royal 
ambitions  should  tend  to  become  dynastic  rather  than 
national,  and  that  advantages  to  be  gained  by  the 
nation  of  which  the  king  was  ruler  should  sometimes 
be  forgotten  in  an  endeavor  to  increase  the  splendor 
of  the  family  of  which  he  was  head. 

During  the  course  of  the  seventeenth  century  there 
were  frequent  alliances  between  the  reigning  families 
of  France  and  Spain.  In  1615,  Louis  XIII.  married 
Anne  of  Austria,  the  daughter  of  Philip  III.  of 
Spain,  and  at  the  same  time  his  sister  was  married 
to  the  prince  of  the  Asturias,  the  future  Philip  IV. 
Such  ties  were  drawn  still  closer  in  the  next  genera- 
tion ;  in  1G60,  Louis  XIV.  married  his  cousin  Maria 
Theresa,  the  daughter  of  Philip  PV. ,  and  a  few  years 
later  Charles  11. ,  the  son  of  Philip  IV.,  married  a 
niece  of  Louis  XIV.,  the  beautiful  Louise  d'Orleans. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        133 

How  numerous  were  the  ties  between  the  rulers  of  the 
two  countries  at  tliis  period  is  shown  by  the  varied 
relationships  of  Charles  II.  to  Louis  XIV. :  he  was 
his  cousin,  his  brother-in-law,  and  his  nephew  by 
marriage. 

These  alliances  illustrate  of  how  little  importance 
to  nations  are  the  ties  of  kith  and  kin  among  their 
rulers.  Eighty -five  years  passed  from  the  first  double 
marriage  between  the  houses  of  Spain  and  France  to 
the  death  of  Charles  II.,  and  during  more  than  forty 
years  of  that  time  France  and  Spain  were  at  war  with 
each  other;  the  ties  of  relationship,  no  matter  how 
intricate,  did  not  insure  peace  and  amity.  In  the 
eighteenth  century  Spain  proved  a  costly  ally,  but  in 
the  seventeenth  century  she  was  a  very  profitable 
opponent;  it  was  more  advantageous  for  France  to 
despoil  her  as  an  enemy  than  to  assist  her  as  a  friend ; 
as  a  result  of  the  various  wars  against  Spain  in  that 
century,  France  obtained  the  cession  of  the  great 
provinces  of  Franche-Comte,  Artois,  and  Roussillon, 
and  a  large  part  of  the  Spanish  lowlands,  territories 
which  now  contain  almost  one  t-enth  of  the  population 
of  the  French  Republic. 

The  marriage  of  Louis  XIV.  with  Maria  Theresa 
was  the  most  important,  in  its  results,  of  the  numerous 
alliances  between  French  and  Spanish  monarchs. 
When  the  marriage  was  arranged,  it  seemed  not  im- 
probable that  Maria  would  ultimately  become  heiress 
to  the  Spanish  throne.  She  was  therefore  required 
to  renounce  her  rights,  but  it  was  easy  to  argue  that 
the  renunciation  was  invalid,  and  it  was  certain  that 
no  instrument,  whether  more  or  less  valid  when  in- 
voked in  courts  of  law,  would  be  allowed  to  control 
ambitious  sovereigns  or  settle  the  fate   of   nations. 


134  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Louis  XIV.  always  asserted  his  wife's  right  as  a  pre- 
text for  his  wars  with  Spain,  and  by  virtue  of  them, 
when  supported  by  superior  armies,  he  obtained  from 
his  father-in-law  and  his  brother-in-law  Franche- 
Comte  and  much  of  the  Netherlands. 

When  it  became  apparent  that  Charles  II.  would 
die  childless  and  the  great  question  of  the  Spanish 
succession  would  be  opened,  Louis  agreed  to  waive 
the  claims  of  his  offspring  in  consideration  of  Lor- 
raine and  Guipuzcoa  and  some  of  the  Italian  posses- 
sions of  Spain,  and  therein  he  acted  for  the  true 
interests  of  France.  But  Charles  was  induced  by 
his  counselors  to  nominate  Louis's  grandson  as  his 
successor,  and  in  an  evil  day  for  his  own  fame  and  for 
the  interests  of  his  kingdom,  the  French  king  decided 
to  accept  the  perilous  legacy ;  he  sacrificed  the  inter- 
ests of  his  kingdom  to  the  aggrandizement  of  his 
family.  Philip  V.  had  not  much  more  French  blood 
in  his  veins  than  Philip  IV. ;  when  he  left  France  he 
was  a  youth  of  seventeen,  and  a  very  dull  and  imma- 
ture youth  besides.  Yet  the  accession  of  a  Bourbon 
prince  to  the  throne  of  Spain  was  regarded  as  a  men- 
ace to  the  liberties  of  Europe,  and  a  long  war  fol- 
lowed in  the  effort  to  prevent  it.  The  disasters  which 
that  war  brought  upon  France  are  well  known,  but 
it  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Bourbon  line 
in  Spain,  and  during  all  of  the  eighteenth  century 
that  country  was  ruled  by  descendants  of  Louis 
XIV.  A  study  of  the  relations  between  France  and 
Spain  during  that  period  tends  to  show  that  the  sacri- 
fices made  by  the  French  for  the  aggrandizement  of 
the  Bourbon  family  brought  them  no  compensating 
advantages,  and  that  France  gained  neither  in  power, 
nor  trade,  nor  prosperity  as  a  compensation  for  the 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.       135 

thirteen  years  of  war  that  were  required  to  place  the 
grandson  of  Louis  XIV.  on  the  Spanish  throne. 

On  the  contrary,  the  establishment  of  the  Bourbons 
in  Spain  seems  rather  to  mark  the  period  when  the 
monarchy  ceased  to  exert  a  beneficial  influence  upon 
the  growth  and  development  of  France.  Whether 
France  had  reached  her  natural  limits,  or  whether 
her  rulers  were  no  longer  fitted  to  carry  on  the  work 
in  which  they  had  so  long  and  so  successfully  been 
engaged,  the  eighteenth  century,  down  to  the  time  of 
the  overthrow  of  the  old  rdgime,  witnessed  a  decline 
in  her  political  influence.  In  the  sixteenth  and  still 
more  in  the  seventeenth  century  the  power  of  France 
had  steadily  grown;  her  territory  had  steadily  in- 
creased in  extent;  during  all  the  numerous  wars  in 
whioh  she  was  engaged  in  the  seventeenth  century 
there  was  not  one  which  terminated  disastrously ;  there 
was  hardly  an  important  battle  in  which  the  French 
armies  suffered  a  decisive  defeat.  Very  different  was 
the  record  of  the  following  century.  Lorraine  was  the 
only  important  acquisition  which  France  made,  and 
curiously  enough,  this  was  secured  because  Fleury 
saw  fit  to  abandon  the  Spanish  alliance  and  bargain 
for  advantages  for  his  own  country  instead  of  those 
which  Louis  had  promised  to  get  for  Spain.  In  the 
war  of  the  Austrian  Succession  the  French  armies 
won  some  brilliant  victories,  but  any  benefits  that 
might  have  been  derived  from  them  were  sacrificed 
to  obtain  an  establishment  for  the  Spanish  infante. 
The  Seven  Years'  war  was  among  the  most  disastrous 
in  the  history  of  France ;  she  secured  the  aid  of  Spain 
in  the  contest,  and  it  added  to  her  misfortunes;  the 
only  fruit  of  the  "family  compact"  was  the  loss  of 
Louisiana. 


13G  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

It  is  manifest,  therefore,  that  a  close  alliance  with 
Spain  did  not  prove  profitable  to  France,  and  a  study 
of  the  various  compacts  between  the  riders  of  the  two 
countries  will  show  that  their  object  was  usually  the 
aggrandizement  of  Spanish  princes  in  whose  veins 
flowed  Bourbon  blood ;  that  for  this  France  furnished 
the  means,  and  from  it  she  reaped  no  benefit. 

While  the  Duke  of  Orleans  was  regent,  the  two 
nations  were  not  on  intimate  nor  even  on  friendly 
terms,  and  within  three  years  after  the  remains  of 
Louis  XIV.  were  deposited  at  St.  Denis,  the  coun- 
tries, which  he  believed  the  Pyrenees  would  no  longer 
divide,  were  at  war  with  each  other.  For  many  years 
the  relations  between  France  and  Spain  were  as  in- 
harmonious as  between  any  two  European  coim tries. 
This  situation  at  last  changed,  and  the  long  political 
friendship  which  followed  was  in  no  inconsiderable 
degree  due  to  Louis  XV.  Inert  as  he  was  by  nature, 
yet  at  times  the  king's  influence  on  French  politics 
was  considerable ;  if  he  felt  little  concern  in  the  pros- 
perity of  his  kingdom,  family  feelings  with  him  were 
strong:  he  had  an  exalted  conception  of  the  greatness 
of  the  Bourbons,  and  displayed  a  lively  interest  in 
the  advancement  of  his  kinsfolk. 

The  political  principles  which  governed  Spain  dur- 
ing the  time  of  the  various  family  compacts,  if  not 
always  wise,  were  entirely  consistent.  The  Spanish 
showed  as  much  willingness  to  treat  with  Austria,  or 
England,  or  any  other  European  power,  as  with 
France ;  they  sought  the  ally  which  would  offer  them 
most.*     The   history  of   Spanish   diplomacy  showed 

*  "  Unless  France  gives  as  aid,"  wrote  the  Spanish  minister 
when  a  new  establishment  was  wanted  for  Don  Philip  in  1743, 
"  the  king  of  Spain,  abandoned  by  his  friends,  will  throw  him- 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        137 

how  vain  were  the  apprehensions  of  those  who  feared 
that  the  ties  of  domestic  affection  between  rulers 
would  make  Spain  eager  to  expend  her  energies  as 
a  humble  auxiliary  of  France.  "We  can  obtain  no- 
thing from  Spain  through  reason,  or  gratitude,  or 
ties  of  blood,"  wrote  a  French  statesman  who  had 
much  to  do  with  the  negotiations  between  the  two 
countries.^ 

The  first  family  compact  of  1733,  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  others  of  a  similar  nature,  was  entered  into 
because  Louis  XV.  was  willing  to  agree  on  terms 
which  the  Spanish  could  obtain  from  no  other  sover- 
eign; he  made  the  interests  of  the  Spanish  princes 
his  own ;  he  promised  to  conquer  for  them  kingdoms 
and  principalities,  and  naturally  the  proffered  help 
was  eagerly  accepted ;  but  France  gained  nothing  by 
imposing  upon  herself  new  and  onerous  obligations. 
The  Spanish  princes  were  regarded  by  the  French 
kings  as  younger  sons  who  must  be  provided  for;  as 
is  often  the  case,  their  establishment  in  life  proved 
a  heavy  burden  upon  the  paternal  estate. 

The  disadvantages  of  the  Spanish  alliance  were 
justly  estimated  by  Fleury,  as  that  sagacious  states- 
man reached  the  end  of  his  long  tenure  of  office. 
"There  is  nothing,"  he  wrote,  "that  the  queen  of 
Spain  would  not  sacrifice  for  the  elevation  of  the 
Infante  Don  Philip.  Reason  and  a  sense  of  what  is 
possible  do  not  influence  her  views;  passion  alone 
controls   them."      "The   greatest   obstacles   that  we 

self  in  the  arms  of  his  enemies."  If  France,  he  added,  delayed 
in  furnishing  the  succor  promised,  Spain  must  go  elsewhere  to 
find  it.    M^m.  1743,  Aff.  Etr. 

>  Mem.  for  office,  Chauvelin,  1735,  Cor.  d'Esp.,  Aff.  Etr.,  428, 
33. 


138  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

find  in  our  projects,"  he  writes  again,  "come  from  the 
court  of  Madrid."  "We  must  acknowledge  that  this 
additional  crown  for  the  House  of  Bourbon  has  done 
us  far  more  harm  than  good."^  The  old  statesman 
showed  his  usual  sagacity  when  he  declared  that  a 
Bourbon  prince  on  the  Spanish  throne  was  a  misfor- 
tune for  France ;  that  it  would  have  been  better  for 
that  country  had  the  great  alliance  formed  by  Wil- 
liam III.  succeeded  in  preventing  the  grandson  of 
Louis  XIV.  from  ruling  in  Spain. 

Years  later,  even  Choiseul  recognized  the  futility  of 
the  attempts  to  obtain  any  advantage  from  the  Bour- 
bon dynasty  in  Spain.  "It  is  astonishing,"  he  wrote, 
"that  for  sixty  years  Spain  has  been  ruled  by  princes 
\  of  the  House  of  France,  and  yet  it  has  never  been 
possible  to  form  a  solid  alliance  between  the  two 
crowns."^ 

The  French  did  not  even  receive  commercial  advan- 
tages as  compensation  for  the  aid  they  rendered  their 
ally ;  they  never  obtained  any  greater  privileges  than 
were  granted  other  friendly  powers,  and  they  did  not 
always  enjoy  those.  On  the  whole,  the  English  pro- 
fited most  by  the  commerce  with  the  Spanish  colonies ; 
they  paid  little  heed  to  many  of  the  prohibitions  by 
which  Spain  sought  to  monopolize  this  trade  for  her- 
self, while  the  French  were  more  scrupulous  about 
exciting  complaints.  Spain  was  treated  by  the  gov- 
ernment as  an  ally  that  must  not  be  offended;  if 
French  traders  suffered  from  the  high-handed  acts  of 
Spanish  officials,  they  got  no  redress ;  no  tales  about 
Jenkins's  ears  were  allowed  to  appear  and  excite  the 

'  Fleury  to  Tencin,  December  6,  1741  ;  April  24  and  May  9, 
1742. 

a  Cor.  d'Espagne,  532,  91  :  1761. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.       139 

public  mind  against  Bourbon  princes.  As  for  trade 
with  Spain  itself,  from  this  all  foreigners  were  ex- 
cluded so  far  as  possible,  and  French  manufacturers 
were  regarded  with  even  more  jealousy  than  those  of 
England.^  Spain  has  always  been  the  most  severe  of 
the  great  European  states  in  its  protective  policy ;  the 
rigor  of  commercial  prohibition  under  Philip  II.  was 
not  relaxed  under  Philip  V. ;  even  to-day  Spain  is  a 
strict  adherent  of  the  protective  doctrines  which  have 
been  adopted  in  that  country  from  time  immemorial, 
though  they  have  not  yet  developed  home  industries 
nor  brought  to  the  land  wealth  and  prosperity.  \^ 

Jealousy  of  French  competition  was  shown  in  other 
ways  than  by  prohibiting  the  importation  of  French 
wares  and  checking  their  trade  with  Mexico  and 
Peru.  Louisiana  was  regarded  as  a  possible  rival 
by  the  Spanish  colonies,  and  so  rigorous  were  the 
prohibitions  against  any  dealings  with  it,  that  a  ship 
from  Louisiana  could  not  anchor  at  Cuba,  even  in 
case  of  distress.  As  late  as  1760,  a  French  vessel 
stopped  at  Havana,  and  landed  its  captain,  who  was 
seriously  ill.  The  governor  ordered  that  he  should 
at  once  be  taken  on  board  and  the  ship  should  set 
sail;  he  was  told  that  the  man's  life  was  in  peril,  but 
he  replied  that  the  orders  of  the  Spanish  king  were 
that  no  French  ship  coming  from  Louisiana  could 
anchor  at  Havana,  or  receive  succor  from  Cuba,  no 
matter  what  the  stress  or  need.^     Even  before  Lou- 

*  "  L'id^e  du  gouvernement  Espagnol  est  de  se  passer  des 
strangers,"  Cor.  d'Esp.,  428,  225,  and  to  this  idea  it  has  al- 
ways remained  true. 

2  An  account  of  this  matter  is  found  in  a  memoir  of  1761 
in  the  Archives  des  Affaires  Etrang'eres.  The  volumes  of  the  Cor. 
d'Espagne  are  filled  with  the  grievances  of  French  merchants 
who  suffered  from  the  rigor  of  Spanish  commercial  regulations, 


140  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

isiana  was  given  to  Spain  as  a  compensation  for  the 
loss  of  Florida,  Choiseul  said  it  might  be  well  to  cede 
it  to  her  in  order  to  avoid  the  constant  offense  which 
the  colony  gave  Spanish  susceptibilities.^ 

During  the  time  that  Louis  XIV. 's  grandson  was 
king  of  Spain,  the  desires  and  purposes  of  his  wife 
are  all  that  it  is  important  to  consider ;  nominally  it 
was  Philip  V.,  a  Bourbon  prince,  a  Frenchman  by 
birth,  who  administered  the  affairs  of  the  country, 
but  it  is  regarding  form  and  not  substance  to  say  that 
he  controlled  Spanish  policy,  or  that  it  was  a  Bour- 
bon who  ruled  in  Spain.  During  the  last  thirty 
years  of  Philip's  reign,  the  absolute  ruler  of  Spain, 
the  person  whose  desires  were  law,  who  decided  all 
questions  of  war  and  peace,  who  said  in  what  cause 
armies  should  fight  and  with  what  states  alliances 
should  be  made,  was  Elizabeth  Farnese,  by  birth  an 
Italian  princess. 

If  France  had  given  queens  to  Spain  instead  of 
kings,  the  hope  might  have  been  realized  that  the 
Pyrenees  would  no  longer  exist.  Philip  V.  was  weak 
as  a  youth,  and  was  little  more  than  an  imbecile  in 
maturity.  His  mental  condition  was  not  always  the 
same;  when  his  health  was  comparatively  good,  he 
was  able  to  perform  the  routine  duties  required  of 
a  sovereign;  he  could  receive  ambassadors  and  hold 
levees,  and,  though  his  judgment  was  controlled  by 
others,  he  could  express  himself  with  dignity  and 
propriety.  But  he  was  often  sunk  far  below  the 
heavy  dullhess  which  was  his  best  estate.  His  con- 
duct then  became  so  extraordinary  that  it  can  only  be 

and  upon  this  official  correspondence  I  have  based  what  I  have 
said  about  the  trade  between  France  and  Spain. 
1  Choiaeul  to  Orsun,  July  31,  1761. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        141 

accounted  for  by  a  certain  degree  of  mental  aliena- 
tion. He  turned  night  into  day ;  he  brealcfasted  near 
midnight,  and  supped  towards  morning,  and  his  meals 
were  sometimes  so  prolonged  that  he  would  sit  for 
nine  or  ten  hours  at  the  table ;  often  he  would  remain 
for  days  in  bed,  refusing  to  have  any  intercourse  with 
his  ministers,  and  having  for  his  only  associate  an 
ignorant  domestic ;  and  as  he  was  jealous  of  any  as- 
sumption of  authority,  without  at  least  the  form  of  his 
consent,  the  government  at  such  times  was  almost 
paralyzed.  The  king  sank  into  a  condition  hardly 
above  that  of  an  animal :  he  would  not  have  his  hair 
or  his  nails  cut;  he  refused  to  change  his  linen,  and 
wore  one  shirt  for  two  months,  until  it  became  as 
black  as  a  chimney ;  he  refused  to  talk,  and  occasion- 
ally, through  long  interviews,  would  keep  his  fingers 
in  his  mouth  to  avoid  any  danger  of  breaking  into 
speech.  The  queen  said  that  he  harbored  the  delusion 
that  he  was  dead,  and  this  accounted  for  his  obsti- 
nate silence.  As  he  ate  enormously,  and  took  little 
exercise,  he  grew  very  unwieldy,  and  it  was  with  diffi- 
culty that  he  could  walk,  when  he  made  the  attempt. 
In  fact,  the  condition  of  Philip  V.  was  often  not 
far  removed  from  that  of  his  uncle  Charles  II. ;  he 
inherited  the  diseased  blood  of  the  Spanish  monarchs, 
and  his  natural  defects  were  increased  by  the  narrow 
prejudices  and  the  benumbing  etiquette  by  which  a 
king  of  Spain  was  necessarily  surrounded.  Philip 
was  superstitious,  he  was  uxorious,  he  was  greedy 
and  overloaded  his  stomach  with  food,  and  what 
little  intelligence  he  ever  had  was  darkened  and  ob- 
scured.^ 

^  This  account  of  Philip's  character  and  conduct  is  based  upon 
the  statements  of  those  who  saw  him  constantly,  and  were  bound 


142  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

If  the  condition  of  the  monarch  was  bad,  that  of 
his  kingdom  was  not  much  better;  internal  commerce 
and  manufactures  were  at  a  low  ebb ;  the  trade  with 
her  extensive  colonies  might  have  been  important, 
but  from  lack  of  capital  and  of  business  enterprise 
it  was  largely  done  through  foreigners,  and  an  unin- 
telligent spirit  of  monopoly  destroyed  the  benefits 
which  could  have  been  derived  from  it.  It  was  in 
vain,  said  a  well-informed  observer,  that  the  govern- 
ment sought  to  become  rich  without  allowing  its  sub- 
jects a  chance  for  profit,  and  Spanish  trade,  as  it  was 
conducted,  was  only  a  combination  of  privilege  and 
brigandage.^ 

Nor  was  Spain  any  better  equipped  for  war  than 
could  be  expected  in  a  country  so  far  in  arrears ;  the 
effective  troops  were  not  one  quarter  of  the  number 
shown  on  paper,  and  they  were  poorly  paid  and 
poorly  disciplined.  The  navy  was  but  a  scarecrow; 
some  of  the  sailors  were  beardless  boys,  others  were 
the  leavings  of  the  jail  or  the  products  of  the  press- 
to  describe  correctly  what  they  saw.  (Cor.  d'Espagne,  370,  346  ; 
371,  6  ;  372,  64,  183  ;  390,  351 ;  395,  79,  189,  etc.)  Similar  ac- 
counts of  his  condition  are  found  in  the  reports  of  all  the  French 
ambassadors  at  Madrid,  during  a  space  of  twenty  years  ;  and 
also  in  letters  from  many  Spaniards  in  the  correspondence  of 
the  Austrian  ambassadors,  and  in  the  Dispacci  Veneziani  of  the 
well-informed  Venetian  ambassadors. 

^  These  statements  as  to  the  condition  of  Spain  are  taken 
from  numerous  memoirs  of  various  dates  in  the  Archives  des 
Affaires  Etrangeres,  and  they  are  confirmed  from  many  other 
sources.  The  condition  of  Spain  under  Philip  V.  showed  some 
improvement  as  compared  with  the  time  of  Charles  II.,  but  it 
was  still  very  bad.  Under  Charles  III.,  the  improvement  was 
considerable,  and  far  more  substantial  than  the  boasted  progress 
made  during  the  administration  of  Alberoui. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        143 

gang.      "  Their  navy  will  be  only  a  breakfast  for  the 
English,"  said  a  true  prophet.^ 

This  strange  government  was  controlled  by  an  Ital- 
ian woman,  who  cared  little  for  Spain  and  less  for 
France;  to  arrive  at  their  ends,  the  French  minister 
lamented,  their  Catholic  majesties  would  exhaust  the 
treasures  of  France  with  the  utmost  indifference.^ 
Notwithstanding  this,  there  was  a  strong  feeling  that 
an  intimate  union  should  exist  between  the  two 
branches  of  the  Bourbon  family ;  it  had  been  a  prin- 
ciple of  Louis  XIV. 's  reign  that  such  was  the  true 
French  policy,  and  the  traditions  of  the  great  mon- 
arch still  exercised  a  large  influence  upon  the  French 
mind.  Fleury  had  not  been  inclined  to  lend  the 
strength  of  France  to  further  the  aspirations  of  the 
Spanish  queen,  but  Chauvelin  was  now  minister  of 
foreign  affairs,  a  man  of  ability,  and  filled  with  am- 
bitious projects.  As  war  with  Austria  became  proba- 
ble, the  two  courts  were  naturally  drawn  more  closely 
together.  Philip  had  a  chronic  desire  for  fighting, 
and  this  was  encouraged  by  his  wife  in  her  eagerness 
to  advance  the  interests  of  her  children.  A  son  of 
Philip  by  his  first  wife  was  living,  and  would  succeed 
to  the  Spanish  throne;  Louis  XV.  had  a  son,  and 
the  possibility  of  a  Spanish  prince  succeeding  to  the 
Frencb  throne  was  very  remote.  Kingdoms  must 
therefore  be  found  for  the  children  of  Elizabeth,  or 
they  would  remain  obscure  princes,  with  little  chance 

1  Mdm.  1735,  Cor.  (VEsp.,  427,  406.  "  Jamais  cette  marine 
ne  sera  qu'un  ^pouvantail  et  un  d^jeuuer  pour  les  Anglais." 

2  Cor.  d'Esp.,  369,  230  ;  428,  33.  "  The  interests  of  Spain 
are  not  those  of  tlie  queen,"  wrote  a  Spaniard.  "  The  queen 
will  always  sacrifice  the  more  important  interests  of  Spain  for 
the  smallest  advantage  she  can  obtain  in  Italy,"  said  tlie  French 
ambassador.     lb.,  390,  392. 


144  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

of  holding  a  prominent  position  in  the  world.  One 
of  them  had  indeed  been  made  Duke  of  Parma  and 
Piacenza,  but  this  portion  was  not  sufficient,  and, 
moreover,  she  had  another  to  provide  for.  The  peace- 
ful policy  of  Fleury  had  long  been  odious  to  the 
queen,  and  a  war  with  Austria  now  furnished  the 
opportunity  she  had  desired.  It  was  at  once  sug- 
gested that  a  close  and  intimate  alliance  between  the 
two  crowns  should  be  formed,  and  to  Elizabeth  the 
idea  of  a  combination  that  would  procure  for  her 
sons  the  Italian  possessions  on  which  her  heart  was 
set  was  eminently  acceptable. ^ 

The  advantages  of  the  proposed  treaty  were  chiefly 
on  the  side  of  Spain,  but  none  the  less  the  suggestion 
of  such  a  measure  was  favorably  received  in  France. 
Louis  XV.  was  strongly  attached  to  his  family,  and 
felt  in  efforts  to  increase  the  dignity  of  Bourbon 
princes  an  interest  which  he  rarely  gave  to  the  wel- 
fare of  his  own  kingdom.  "We  shall  be  charmed  at 
anything  which  can  cement  a  personal  union  between 
the  two  branches  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,"  wrote 
Chauvelin.2  "The  king  regards  the  interests  of  the 
infante  as  his  own,  and  will  gladly  employ  all  our 
forces  for  his  support  and  his  glory."  ^  When  these 
views  were  held  at  Versailles,  the  negotiations  for  a 
treaty  went  on  prosperously.  It  was  to  no  avail  that 
the  French  ambassador  at  Madrid  suggested  doubts 
as  to  the  value  of  such  an  alliance.  "  We  must  con- 
sider," he  said,  "the  condition  of  the  government,  the 

*  The  course  of  the  negotiations  which  led  to  the  making  of 
the  first  family  compact  can  be  followed  in  the  Cor.  (TEspagnCf 
Aff.  Etr.,  t.  390  to  406,  correspondence  for  1732  and  1733. 

*  Chauvelin  to  Rottembourg,  April,  1732. 
»  lb.,  August  19. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        145 

caprices  of  the  queen,  the  rascality  of  the  ministers, 
that  they  have  neither  money,  nor  credit,  nor  troops."  ^ 
These  suggestions  were  not  heeded,  and  in  November, 
1733,  the  treaty  of  the  Escurial  was  signed,  the  first 
of  the  so-called  family  compacts  which  so  much  dis- 
turbed Europe  in  the  last  century.  This  was,  in  the 
very  words  of  the  treaty,  described  as  an  "  eternal  and 
irrevocable  family  compact,"  and  by  it  the  French 
agreed  that  Don  Carlos  should  have,  in  addition  to 
his  present  possessions,  Naples  and  Sicily,  and  that 
no  peace  should  be  made  with  Austria  until  this 
result  had  been  secured.  France  agreed  also  to  use 
her  efforts  to  induce  England  to  cede  Gibraltar  to 
Spain,  to  employ  force  for  this  purpose,  if  required, 
and  never  to  cease  her  endeavors  until  Spain  had 
satisfaction;  the  two  governments  were  to  consult 
together  on  all  questions,  but  the  only  provision 
which  the  treaty  contained  for  France  was  that  her 
commerce  with  Spain  should  receive  as  favorable 
treatment  as  was  given  to  any  other  nation. ^ 

Both  Louis  and  Elizabeth  were  disappointed  in 
their  anticipations;  the  objects  sought  to  be  secured 
by  the  first  of  the  family  compacts,  like  those  of  the 
similar  treaties  which  followed,  were  not  accom- 
plished; the  union  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Bour- 
bon family  sometimes  proved  to  the  disadvantage  of 
one  of  the  parties,  and  sometimes  to  the  disadvantage 
of  both ;  least  of  all  did  this  alliance  bring  about  a 
result,  the  hope  of  which  had  excited  the  infirm  brain 
of  Philip  V. ;  if  the  naval  forces  of   the  House  of 

^  Letters  of  Rottembourg  of  August  2  and  October  5. 
^  The  treaty  was  kept  secret,  but  it  is  found  in  the  Archives 
des  Aff.  Etr.,  Cor.  d^Espagne,  408,  44,  ei  seq. 


146  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Bourbon  were  united,  he   said,  this  would  destroy 
England.^ 

Before  the  treaty  of  the  Escurial  was  signed, 
France  had  commenced  hostilities ;  her  armies  crossed 
the  Rhine  and  the  Alps,  and  the  war  of  the  Polish 
Succession  began.  In  this  contest  France  had  the  co- 
operation of  Sardinia  and  Spain,  and  it  proceeded 
favorably  for  the  allies.  It  was  indeed  an  unequal 
conflict.  The  armies  of  Austria  were  not  sufficient 
to  protect  her  great  possessions  in  Germany,  in  the 
Low  Countries,  and  in  Italy;  her  strength  had  been 
slowly  but  steadily  diminishing,  nor  had  any  ruler 
been  able  to  revive  her  declining  energies.  Charles 
VI.,  the  present  emperor,  possessed  no  greater  abili- 
ties than  his  predecessors  for  a  century;  he  was  a 
duU  and  obstinate  man,  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
the  empire  of  which  he  was  the  head  exceeded  in 
power  and  greatness  all  its  enemies,  but  unable  to  util- 
ize what  resources  it  had ;  he  was  not  a  warrior  like 
Charles  V. ;  he  had  neither  the  vigor  of  Ferdinand 
II.,  nor  the  qualities  that  excite  popular  enthusiasm, 
and  which  were  exhibited  by  his  heroic  daughter. 
The  French  were  better  prepared  for  hostilities,  and 
were  eager  to  begin  them.  It  was  twenty  years  since 
France  had  been  engaged  in  any  war  worth  the  name, 
and  there  had  been  no  period  of  peace  so  long  as  this 
during  the  whole  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  the  old 
soldiers  were  weary  of  tranquillity,  the  young  men 
wished  an  opportunity  to  distinguish  themselves,  and 
the  treatment  which  Stanislaus  had  received  was 
regarded  as  an  ample  justification  for  hostilities. 
"Everybody  is  starting  for  the  war,"  wrote  Marais; 
1  Conversation  reported  in  Cor.  d'Espagne,  394,  21. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        147 

"the  whole  nation  has  gone  crazy  over  it,  and  is 
eager  to  avenge  the  affront  offered  to  our  king."  ^ 

One  might  have  doubted  the  vigor  with  which 
operations  woidd  be  carried  on  from  the  maturity  of 
those  who  were  chosen  to  command  them.  It  was  not 
strange  that  Fleury,  who  was  now  over  eighty,  be- 
lieved that  men  grew  wiser  as  they  grew  older,  nor  that 
he  chose  generals  who  had  already  gained  their  fame, 
and  were  well  past  their  youth.  Marshal  Berwick 
was  given  the  command  of  the  army  of  the  Rhine ;  it 
was  fifty  years  since  he  began  his  career  as  a  soldier, 
and  during  a  lifetime  spent  in  fighting  he  had  com- 
manded the  armies  of  England,  France,  and  Spain. 
Villars,  the  hero  of  Denain,  to  whom  was  given  the 
command  in  Italy,  was  still  older  in  the  service,  and 
had  reached  the  mature  age  of  eighty.^  But  years 
did  not  always  cool  the  ardor  or  the  vitality  of  a 
French  nobleman.  Villars  celebrated  his  progress  by 
a  series  of  balls  in  which  he  was  not  the  least  active 
of  the  dancers;  he  declared  that  in  one  engagement 
he  was  twenty  hours  out  of  the  twenty -four  on  horse- 
back; he  was  as  ardent  and  as  boastful  as  he  had 
been  all  his  life.  "Tell  the  king  he  can  dispose  of 
Italy  as  he  sees  fit,"  he  said.  "I  am  going  to  con- 
quer it  for  him." 

The  Austrians  had  equally  mature  generals :  Prince 
Eugene,  who  commanded  on  the  Rhine,  was  a  man  of 
threescore  and  ten,  nor  was  Mercy,  their  leader  in 

'  Mem.  de  Marais,  1733. 

2  Villars  himself  claimed  to  be  a  little  younger  :  Villars  to 
king,  March  26, 1734.  "  J'ajouterai,  sire,  que  je  croyais  I'annde 
passde  avoir  77  ans  ;  il  y  a  done  qiielque  apparenee  que  j'eii  ai 
cettc  amide  78."  The  marshal  was  at  his  ease  in  addressing 
his  sovereign,  as  he  was  with  all  the  rest  of  the  world. 


148  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Italy,  much  younger,  but  their  armies  were  far  infe- 
rior to  those  of  their  adversaries.  The  emperor  had 
believed  that  no  one  would  venture  to  attack  him, 
and  though  war  had  long  been  iimninent,  its  outbreak 
found  the  Austrians  wholly  unprepared.  There  were 
only  twenty-eight  thousand  men  to  protect  the  ex- 
tensive Italian  possessions  which  extended  from  the 
Alps  to  Cape  Passaro,  and  they  were  wholly  unequal 
to  the  task.  Villars  had  little  trouble  in  justifying 
part  of  his  boast;  the  French  and  Sardinian  armies 
met  with  no  serious  resistance,  and  in  less  than  two 
months  the  whole  of  the  great  duchy  of  Milan  had 
been  conquered.  On  the  1st  of  December,  1733, 
Charles  Emmanuel  made  his  triimiphant  entry  into 
the  city  of  Milan.  It  was  his  claim  that  he  came  to 
drive  away  foreign  oppressors,  to  unite  Lombardy 
with  Piedmont  under  the  rule  of  an  Italian  prince, 
and  he  at  once  assumed  the  title  of  Duke  of  Milan. 
More  than  a  century  later  his  descendant  in  like 
manner  took  possession  of  Lombardy  as  the  represent- 
ative of  Italian  unity,  and  was  received  with  univer- 
sal enthusiasm  by  a  people  who  loathed  their  foreign 
rulers  and  demanded  that  Italy  should  belong  to  the 
Italians.  There  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  trace 
of  such  feeling  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century ; 
the  doctrine  of  nationalities,  which  has  since  played 
80  great  a  part  in  the  history  of  Europe,  was  then 
wholly  undeveloped  in  Italy,  and  had  little  influence 
in  Germany.  Not  only  were  the  people  of  Milan 
indifferent  to  the  idea  of  exchanging  si  foreign  ruler 
for  an  Italian  king,  but,  on  the  whole,  they  preferred 
to  be  left  as  they  were.  A  witness  has  described  the 
entry  of  Charles  into  Milan,  a  strange  contrast  to  the 
famous  scene  when  Victor  Emmanuel  and  Louis  Na- 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        149 

poleou  tjutered  in  triumph  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  years  later.  A  Te  Deum  was  sung  in  the  cathe- 
dral by  order  of  the  conqueror,  but  there  was  no  joy 
among  the  people;  they  stood  sullenly  about  the 
streets,  and  looked  with  averted  gaze  upon  the  troops 
entering  their  city;  the  most  of  them  felt  that  they 
would  be  as  well  treated  by  the  emperor  as  by  the 
king  of  Sardinia,  and  they  wished  no  change.^  But  if 
the  people  were  not  enthusiastic,  they  were  passive; 
they  offered  no  resistance,  and  the  Austrians  had  no 
forces  with  which  to  resist. 

The  campaign  on  the  Rhine  was  less  important 
than  that  of  Milan ;  the  French  captured  Kehl,  and 
in  the  year  following  Philipsburg  was  taken  after  a 
long  and  tedious  siege.  The  empire  declared  war 
upon  the  French,  but,  as  was  usually  the  case  with  that 
inert  body,  the  declaration  proved  of  small  impor- 
tance, and  the  states  of  the  empire  furnished  little 
aid  to  their  chief. 

In  the  south,  however,  events,  took  place  which 
had  more  permanent  results  than  the  easy  victories  of 
Villars.  Late  in  1733,  the  Spanish  forces  landed  in 
Italy.  Spain,  Sardinia,  and  France  were  nominally 
engaged  in  the  expulsion  of  the  emperor  from  the 
Italian  peninsula,  but  the  queen  of  Spain  had  refused 
to  accede  to  the  treaty  between  France  and  Sardinia, 
and  her  soldiers  were  now  bidden  to  give  no  heed  to 
their  nominal  associates,  and  to  devote  their  attention 
to  conquests  of  which  her  children  would  have  the 
fruits.  It  was  in  vain  that  Villars  advised  the  union 
of  the  various  armies  in  order  to  prevent  the  Aus- 

^  Fontanieu  to  minister  of  war,  December  12,  1733.  The 
Venetian  Foscarini  noticed  the  same  thing,  and  spoke  of  the 
terror  and  gloom  with  which  the  city  was  filled. 


150  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

trians  sending  reinforcements  into  Italy;  the  Spanish 
would  not  cooperate  with  the  French,  nor  obey  the 
orders  of  Charles  Emmanuel,  and  their  entire  army 
at  once  turned  its  forces  southward  to  conquer  Naples 
for  Don  Carlos.^ 

The  result  of  this  imdertaking  appeared  problemati- 
cal; the  Spanish  army  was  small  at  the  start,  and  it 
melted  away  on  the  march,  until  it  was  little  over 
twelve  thousand  strong  when  Naples  was  reached. 
It  seemed  presumptuous  to  attempt  the  conquest  of 
two  kingdoms  with  a  handful  of  men,  but  the  effort 
was  crowned  with  success.  If  the  Spanish  invaders 
were  weak,  the  Austrian  defenders  were  weaker,  and 
the  people  were  more  friendly  to  the  new  rulers  than 
to  the  old.  It  was  only  a  quarter  of  a  century  that  the 
Austrians  had  ruled  at  Naples,  and  their  administra- 
tion was  not  popular ;  Spanish  agents  promised  that, 
under  Don  Carlos,  odious  imposts  should  be  abol- 
ished, and  popvdar  privileges  restored,  and  they 
gained  adherents  for  him  in  all  classes.  These  prom- 
ises of  reform  might  not  be  fulfilled,  but  the  success 
of  Don  Carlos  assured  one  change  that  was  welcome 
to  the  people:  he  was  not  endeavoring  to  make  of 
Naples  a  province  of  Spain ;  he  was  to  be  their  own 
king ;  they  would  be  governed  by  a  monarch  dwelling 
among  them,  instead  of  by  the  viceroy  of  some  distant 
state.  As  his  little  army  drew  near,  the  population 
rose  in  his  behalf;  the  scanty  Austrian  garrisons 
could  offer  small  resistance ;  tliey  were  defeated  in  a 
battle,  and  were  glad  to  make  their  escape  north.  On 
the  15th  of  May,  1734,  Don  Carlos  entered  Naples 
amid  the  genuine  enthusiasm  of  the  people  over  whom 
he  was  to  rule.  Sicily  offered  no  more  resistance 
'  Villars  to  king,  April  22,  1734. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.       151 

tlian  Naples;  Don  Carlos  became  the  king  of  the 
Two  Sicilies,  and  founded  another  line  of  Bourbon 
sovereigns. 

Curiously  enough,  the  dynasty  thus  established  was 
still  upon  the  throne  of  Naples,  when  the  parent 
stock,  the  French  Bourbons,  had  been  finally  expelled 
from  the  throne  of  France.  During  one  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  years  Bourbon  princes  reigned  in  Na- 
ples, except  when  driven  from  their  place  by  the 
French  themselves.  Unfortunately,  their  rule  was 
not  as  beneficial  as  it  was  prolonged;  Don  Carlos 
himself,  the  first  of  the  line,  was  also  the  best;  his 
successors  constituted  the  most  retrograde  and  big- 
oted branch  of  the  Bourbon  family,  and  when  they 
were  at  last  driven  from  the  throne,  it  was  to  the 
delight  of  their  subjects  and  with  the  approval  of 
Europe. 

The  conquest  of  Naples  was  the  most  important 
achievement  of  the  war.  The  campaigns  on  the 
Rhine  were  wholly  unproductive,  nor  were  the  opera- 
tions in  Italy,  after  the  first  victories  of  Yillars,  more 
important  in  their  results.  It  was  not  because  the 
forces  were  insufficient,  but  because  the  leaders  were 
inharmonious,  that  no  progress  was  made.  Charles 
Emmanuel  had  possession  of  Milan ;  any  further  con- 
quests in  Italy  he  knew  would  be  for  the  Spanish 
princes,  and  he  would  do  nothing  to  forward  their  in- 
terests. Elizabeth  Farnese  was  equally  resolved  that 
she  would  do  nothing  that  could  prove  of  assistance 
to  the  king  of  Sardinia.  As  the  Austrians  abandoned 
the  Two  Sicilies,  in  1735,  the  Spanish  army  made 
its  appearance  in  Northern  Italy,  but  its  presence 
there  proved  a  hindrance  rather  than  a  help. 

The  Spanish  refused  to  act  under  the  orders  of 


162  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Charles  Emmanuel,  and  insisted  on  laying  siege  to 
Mantua,  which  they  hoped  to  add  to  the  possessions 
of  the  infante ;  but  if  Charles  could  not  have  Mantua 
for  himself,  he  preferred  that  it  should  belong  to  Aus- 
tria; he  would  not  assist  in  the  siege,  and  thereupon 
the  Spanish  declined  any  longer  to  pay  the  subsidy 
which  they  were  bound  to  furnish.  ^ 

The  progress  of  the  war  was  hindered  also  by  the 
death  of  the  great  generals  who  commanded  at  its 
beginning.  The  exposures  of  the  Italian  campaign 
proved  too  much  for  a  man  who  had  passed  fourscore 
years,  and  in  June,  1734,  Villars  closed  his  long 
military  career.  As  he  lay  on  his  death-bed  in  Turin 
the  news  came  that  Marshal  Berwick,  his  lifelong 
rival  for  fame,  had  been  struck  by  a  bullet  while  in 
the  trenches  before  Philipsburg  and  killed  on  the 
spot.  "That  man  has  always  been  more  fortunate 
than  I,"  said  the  dying  soldier.'^ 

While  dissensions  between  the  allies  brought  the 
war  almost  to  a  standstill,  negotiations  for  peace  were 
in  active  progress.  England  and  Holland  first  en- 
deavored to  restore  harmony,  and  proposed  terms  that 
were  not  very  unfair,  but  were  unacceptable  to  all 
parties.  Meanwhile,  secret  conferences  were  held  be- 
tween the  principal  combatants.  Fleury  was  always 
eager  for  peace,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  replying  to 
the  overtures  made  by  the  emperor.  In  these  nego- 
tiations the  cardinal  showed  great  sagacity  and  not 
much  good  faith.  France  was  bound  by  treaties 
of  alliance  with  Sardinia  and  with  Spain.  It  was 
indeed  easy  to  find  grievances  against  both  of  her 
associates :  Charles  Emmanuel,  when  he  had  obtained 

*  Cor.  d'Espagne  for  1736. 

*  Mem.  de  Villars,  445. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        153 

what  he  desired  for  himself,  would  do  nothing  for 
any  one  else ;  the  Spanish  had  from  the  first  refused 
to  assist  in  any  operations,  except  such  as  were  taken 
in  their  own  interests,  and  as  an  effective  alliance 
against  Austria  the  cooperation  of  the  three  nations 
was  a  farce.  Moreover,  the  queen  of  Spain  was 
unreasonable  in  her  demands,  and  Fleury  said  in 
his  anger  that  he  would  not  carry  on  war  to  please 
a  woman's  caprice.^  Thus  he  had  some  justification 
for  agreeing  on  terms  without  consulting  his  associ- 
ates, but  his  procedure  was  not  marked  by  any  deli- 
cate sense  of  good  faith.  He  was  little  disturbed  by 
such  considerations;  the  plan  of  taking  Italy  from 
Austria  in  order  to  divide  it  between  the  king  of  Sar- 
dinia and  the  children  of  Elizabeth  Farnese  was  a 
scheme  of  Chauvelin;  the  cardinal  saw  in  an  increase 
of  French  territory  a  far  more  tangible  advantage 
than  in  making  Italian  princes  of  the  cousins  of 
Louis  XV.  2 

Early  in  1735,  the  Austrian  court  intimated  its 
desire  for  peace,  and  the  cardinal  at  once  sent  trusty 
representatives  to  Vienna.  With  such  secrecy  were 
these  negotiations  carried  on,  that  though  they  ex- 
tended over  several  months,  their  existence  seems  to 
have  been  suspected  by  no  one.^ 

^  Cor.  d'Espagne,  369,  25.  Fleury  denied  making  this  re- 
mark, but  probably  he  said  it,  and  certainly  he  thought  it. 

2  The  Spanish  gave  notice  they  would  no  longer  pay  the  sub- 
sidy (letter  of  Patino,  October  12)  on  account  of  the  refusal  of 
Charles  Emmanuel  to  supply  cannon  for  the  siege  of  Mantua. 
This  letter  came  just  in  time  to  furnish  the  French  a  pretext  for 
making  the  treaty  with  Austria,  to  which  they  had  already 
agreed.     See  letter  of  Chauvelin  to  Vaulgrenant,  October,  1735. 

'•^  For  the  negotiations  as  to  this  treaty,  I  have  followed  the 
correspondence  in  the  foreign  office.  Cor.  de  Vienne,  1735,  t. 
180-185. 


154  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

France  and  Austria  each  had  a  demand  to  make 
which  was  thought  of  essential  importance,  and  fortu- 
nately for  the  success  of  the  negotiations,  their  de- 
mands did  not  conflict.  It  was  impossible  to  suppose 
that  after  Stanislaus  had  been  chased  from  his  king- 
dom, and  his  rival  had  for  two  years  been  in  peace- 
ful possession  of  the  Polish  throne,  the  French  can- 
didate would  be  allowed  to  rule  over  the  country  of 
which  he  had  twice  been  elected  king.  Yet  it  was  in 
behalf  of  Stanislaus  that  the  French  had  declared 
war.  The  results  of  the  contest  had  on  the  whole 
been  decidedly  favorable  to  them,  and  they  felt  that 
their  honor  was  involved  in  making  no  peace  unless 
Stanislaus  was  compensated  for  the  loss  of  his  throne.^ 

The  emperor  had  an  object  in  view  to  which  he 
attached  still  greater  importance.  He  had  no  son, 
and  it  had  long  been  the  chief  object  of  his  policy  to 
secure  for  his  daughter  Maria  Theresa  the  great  pos- 
sessions of  the  House  of  Hapsburg.  By  the  Prag- 
matic Sanction,  issued  in  1713,  he  declared  that  his 
oldest  daughter  should  succeed  to  the  sovereignty  of 
all  the  states  ruled  by  him,  should  he  die  leaving  no 
son,  and  for  twenty  years  he  sought  to  obtain  from 
the  European  powers  a  recognition  of  the  rights  thus 
secured  to  her. 

Thus  far  France  had  steadily  refused  to  acknow- 
ledge the  validity  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  and  her 
relations  were  of  the  most  friendly  nature  with  the 
Elector  of  Bavaria,  who  was  Maria  Theresa's  most 
serious  competitor  for  the  possessions  of  the  Haps- 
burgs. 

When  the  commissioners  met  in  secret  conference 

1  Cor.  d'Autriche,  181,  148,  et  pas.  Referat  de  la  Confdrence 
da  9  Septembre,  1735,  from  the  Austrian  records. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        155 

at  Vienna,  the  French  demanded  siibstantial  advan- 
tages for  Stanislaus.  The  emperor  was  willing  to 
accede  to  their  requests,  if  lie  could  obtain  a  ratifica- 
tion of  his  daughter's  title  in  return.  Free  from  the 
opposition  of  France,  he  believed  that  she  could  in- 
herit in  peace  what  he  wished  should  be  hers.  The 
French  asked  the  duchies  of  Bar  and  Lorraine  for  s/ 
Stanislaus,  as  compensation  for  his  resignation  of  the 
throne  of  Poland,  and  such  an  arrangement  would  not 
only  satisfy  the  honor  of  France,  but  would  redound 
to  her  advantage;  Stanislaus's  only  heir  was  the 
French  queen,  and  therefore  upon  his  death  both 
duchies  must  go  in  absolute  sovereignty  to  France. ^ 
Over  neither  of  them  had  Charles  VI.  any  rights, 
except  the  vague  authority  of  the  empire,  but  the 
young  Duke  of  Lorraine  was  the  cousin  of  Maria^ 
Theresa,  and  had  been  selected  as  her  husband.  As 
he  was  to  receive  from  the  hands  of  Charles  the 
heiress  of  greater  states  than  Mary  of  Burgundy  or 
Isabella  of  Castile,  he  was  sure  to  accede  to  plans 
which  were  for  the  advantage  of  the  imperial  family. 
He  was  not  asked  to  surrender  his  duchy  without 
compensation.  In  those  days  states  were  handed 
about  without  reference  to  the  wishes  of  their  inhab- 
itants ;  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  was  old,  infirm, 
and  childless,  and  the  great  powers  of  Europe  had 
already  decided  that  he  should  be  succeeded  by  one 
of  the  Spanish  infantes,  who  were  chronic  applicants 
for  all  vacant  duchies  or  thrones.  This  arrangement 
was  now  changed  without  the  formality  of  consulting 

1  The  statement  often  repeated  and  adopted  by  Martin  that 
Fleury  was  content  with  Bar,  and  Chauvelin's  interposition 
secured  Lorraine,  is  shown  to  be  erroneous  by  an  examination 
of  the  correspondence  at  the  foreign  office. 


156  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

the  Spanish  queen,  and  Tuscany  was  agreed  upon  as 
a  compensation  for  Lorraine.  The  exchange  was  not 
an  unfair  one,  hut  it  could  not  be  without  regi-et  that 
the  House  of  Lorraine  consented  to  surrender  their 
ancient  possessions;  for  seven  hundred  years  they 
had  ruled  in  that  duchy ;  it  had  been  subject  to  them 
almost  as  long  as  the  Isle  of  France  to  the  House  of 
Capet.  It  was  now  agreed  that  the  duchies  of  Bar 
and  Lorraine  were  to  be  ceded  to  Stanislaus  for 
his  lifetime,  and  that  upon  his  death  they  should  be 
incorporated  with  France.^  Thus  Lorraine  at  last 
became  French,  and  so  remained  until  it  was  con- 
quered by  the  Prussians  more  than  a  century  later. 
Its  destinies  had  long  been  controlled  by  France,  and 
its  condition  was  improved  by  incorporation  into  that 
kingdom.  It  had  been  subject  to  French  domination, 
without  being  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  French  pro- 
tection ;  at  the  beginning  of  this  war,  as  often  before, 
the  French  had  at  once  taken  possession  of  the  duchy ; 
they  had  demanded  of  its  inhabitants  supplies  foe 
their  troops,  fodder  for  their  horses,  magazines  for 
their  ammunition ;  the  cession  now  made  changed  ah 
occupation  by  might  into  a  possession  by  right.  In 
return  for  the  acquisition  of  this  rich  and  prosperous 
province,  the  French  agreed  to  guarantee  the  Prag- 
matic Sanction,  and  no  one  can  deny  the  bad  faith  of 
French  statesmen  when  a  few  years  later  they  failed 
to  keep  their  word.  "The  cession  of  Lorraine," 
Fleury  himself  wrote,  "is  a  sort  of  compensation 
for  the  guarantee  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,"  and 
in  almost  as  explicit  terms  this  was  stated  in  the 

*  The  articles  first  signed  did  not  give  Stanislaus  possession 
of  Lorraine  until  the  death  of  the  g^nd  duke,  but  this  coudi- 
tion  was  afterwards  modified. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        157 

articles  signed  by  the  representatives  of  France  and 
Austria.^ 

When  these  two  great  questions  were  satisfactorily 
arranged,  there  was  little  trouble  in  agreeing  on  other 
matters.  The  French  did  everything  in  their  power 
to  obtain  favorable  terms  for  their  allies,  except  man- 
ifest a  determination  to  fight  for  them;  as  a  result, 
while  Charles  Emmanuel  and  Don  Carlos  got  some- 
thing, it  was  a  good  deal  less  than  they  had  hoped 
for,  or  than  had  been  agreed  upon  in  the  treaties 
made  between  France,  Sardinia,  and  Spain. ^  Don»^ 
Carlos  was  indeed  recognized  as  king  of  the  Two  Sici- 
lies, and  he  was  given  besides  the  ports  on  the 'Tus- 
can coast,  but  in  return  for  this  the  duchies  of  Parma 
and  Piacenza,  which  he  already  held,  were  ceded  to 
Austria,  and  his  rights  to  the  succession  of  Tuscany 
were  transferred  to  the"  Duke  of  Lorraine.  Don  Car- 
los was  left  king  of  a  rich  and  populous  country,  but 
his  other  possessions,  with  which  his  mother  expected 
to  make  her  second  son  a  powerful  prince,  were  un- 
ceremoniously taken  away.  The  larger  part  of  the*^ 
duchy  of  Milan  was  surrendered  to  Austria,  and 
Charles  Emmanuel  had  to  be  content  with  a  modest 
portion  of  the  coveted  territory.  As  a  concession  to 
French  pride,  the  legality  of  Stanislaus's  election  was 
recognized,  but  he  was  forthwith  to  resign  his  office, 
and  Augustus  III.,  who  had  long  been  king  in  fact, 
became  king  dejure  as  well. 

Stanislaus  was  allowed  to  retain  the  .title  of  king 
of  Poland  with  whatever  precedence  that  secured 
for  him.  Title  and  rank  were  nearly  all  there  was  to 
the  Polish  monarchy,  and  as  Stanislaus  exchanged  a 

^  Fleury  to  La  Baume,  September  11,  1735,  Cor.  d^Autriche, 
181,  pas. 


158  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

nominal  authority  over  an  unruly  people  for  a  com- 
fortable life  and  an  ample  allowance  in  Lorraine,  he 
had  no  reason  to  be  discontented. 

On  the  3d  of  October,  1735,  articles  containing 
these  terms  were  signed  at  Vienna.  Long  delibera- 
tion was  required  to  settle  all  the  conditions,  and  not 
until  1738  was  the  treaty  of  Vienna  signed,  but  save 
in  unimportant  detail  it  followed  the  secret  agreement 
made  between  France  and  Austria  in  1735.^ 

The  unpleasant  duty  now  devolved  upon  the  French 
of  notifying  their  allies  that  terms  had  been  fixed  for 
them  without  the  formality  of  consultation.  It  was 
not  an  agreeable  task  either  at  Turin  or  at  Madrid, 
but  the  minister  who  had  to  meet  the  wrath  of  Eliza- 
beth Farnese  was  most  commiserated.  It  was  her 
anger  that  was  feared,  and  not  that  of  the  king,  for 
the  insignificance  of  the  role  of  Philip  V.  appears 
even  in  the  most  casual  references  to  Spanish  poli- 
tics. "We  must  expect  discontent  from  our  allies," 
Chauvelin  wrote  the  emperor,  "and  especially  from 
the  queen  of  Spain." ^  "We  are  sincerely  sorry  for 
you,  because  you  will  have  to  announce  this  news," 
the  minister  said  to  the  Count  of  Vaulgrenant,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  face  the  lioness  in  her  den.^  There 
was  ample  reason  to  anticipate  an  unpleasant  quarter 
of  an  hour,  for  the  Spanish  queen  had  a  temper  of 
extraordinary  violence,  and,  when  excited  by  opposi- 
tion, her  voice  was  raised,  her  face  was  flushed,  and 

'  The  treaty  of  Vienna  was  not  ratified  by  Spain  and  Sardinia 
until  1739.  The  articles  signed  at  Vienna  in  1735  are  found 
in  Correspondance.  de  Vienne,  181.  The  course  of  these  nego- 
tiations I  have  followed  in  the  official  correspondence  of  the 
Affaires  Etrangeres. 

*  Chauvelin  to  emperor,  November  18,  1735. 

8  Chauvelin  to  Vaulgrenant,  October  27,  1735. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        159 

she  poured  out  a  stream  of  vituperation;  even  her 
favorite  minister  planned  in  what  manner  disagree- 
able news  could  be  conveyed  to  her  with  least  danger 
of  a  scene  of  violence,  and  expressed  great  relief  when 
any  such  occasion  passed  without  exciting  a  torrent 
of  abuse  that  would  have  done  credit  to  a  fish  woman.  ^ 
.As  for  poor  Philip,  no  one  was  disturbed  by  him; 
when  any  startling  announcement  was  made,  he  kept 
close  watch  of  his  wife's  face,  and  regulated  his  con- 
duct accordingly. 2  On  this  occasion  the  French  min- 
ister escaped  more  easily  than  he  had  anticipated. 
The  queen  was  deeply  disappointed  that  her  ambition 
for  her  sons  could  not  be  gratified,  but  she  indulged 
in  no  burst  of  passion  before  the  minister;  she  con- 
tented herself  with  treating  him  with  an  icy  civility. 
Indeed,  disappointed  as  were  both  Elizabeth  and 
Charles  Emmanuel  at  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  they 
recognized  the  fact  that  they  could  hope  for  nothing 
except  with  the  aid  of  France ;  if  their  ally  would  do 
no  more,  though  they  might  repine,  it  was  useless  to 
resist.  Spain  and  Sardinia  sullenly  acceded  to  the 
terms  agreed  upon  for  them,  and  with  unimportant 
alterations  these  were  incorporated  into  the  treaty  of 
Vienna. 

The  war  thus  ended  had  been  brief,  and  from  a 
military  standpoint  had  not  been  notable,  but  it  re-  ] 
suited   in    important    and    permanent    changes.     A 
Bourbon  line  of  ])rinces  was  established  on  the  throne  ' 
of  Naples;    the  House  of  Savoy  extended  its  posses- 

^  There  are  innumerable  references  to  such  scenes  in  the 
French  correspondence,  and  there  were  frecjuent  interviews  with 
the  Spanish  minister,  Patino,  as  to  liow  they  could  be  avoided. 

-  See  an  account  of  sucli  an  interview  given  by  the  Bishop  of 
Remies  in  1743.     Cor.  d^Espagne,  475,  124,  et  seq. 


160  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

sions  somewhat  in  Lombardy,  and  though  the  gain 
was  not  important,  yet  the  princes  of  that  family 
never  loosed  their  hold  on  what  they  had  once  ob- 
tained, and  each  new  strip  of  territory  served  as  a 
basis  for  further  advances.  Lorraine  was  annexed 
to  France,  and  strengthened  her  frontier  along  the 
Rhine ;  it  was  the  last  acquisition  made  by  the  French 
monarchy  on  the  Continent,  and  closed  the  long  pro- 
cess of  territorial  aggrandizement  begun  under  Hugh 
Capet.  Though  the  treaty  of  Vienna  contained  pro- 
visions which  guaranteed  to  Poland  her  liberties  and 
the  right  to  a  free  election  of  her  kings,  yet  the  events 
of  the  war  showed,  more  distinctly  than  had  before 
been  seen,  the  subjection  of  that  country  to  her 
powerful  neighbors  ;  the  war  of  the  Polish  Succession 
hastened  the  political  decline  which  at  last  resulted 
in  the  dismemberment  of  Poland.  So  far  as  the  great 
powers  of  Europe  were  concerned,  France  emerged 
stronger  from  the  struggle  and  Austria  weaker ;  the 
preponderance  of  France  in  European  politics  seemed 
assured ;  but  Louis  XV.  had  still  over  thirty  years  to 
reign,  and  during  that  long  period  the  heedlessness, 
the  inefficiency,  and  the  corruption  of  the  administra- 
tion greatly  lessened  the  influence  of  that  country. 

The  annexation  of  Lorraine  to  France  was  accom- 
plished without  delay.  In  1737,  Stanislaus  took  pos- 
session of  his  new  government,  and  he  forthwith 
turned  over  to  the  king  of  France  the  revenues  and 
the  administration  of  his  duchies.  All  that  he  re- 
served for  himself,  it  was  said,  was  to  insure  the  hap- 
piness of  his  subjects,  and  so  far  as  lay  in  his  power, 
he  did  this  with  a  fidelity  equaled  by  few  sovereigns. 
For  thirty  years  he  ruled  over  Lorraine,  and  he  was  a 
very  king  of  Yvetot. 


WAR   OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.        IGl 

Stanislaus  was  allowed  by  the  French  government 
an  income  of  two  million  livres;  the  sum  was  not 
large  for  one  who  was  expected  to  display  the  state  of 
a  sovereign  prince,  but  under  his  prudent  care  it  was 
more  than  enough.  In  all  Europe  there  was  not  so 
well  ordered  a  court :  there  was  no  waste,  there  was 
no  plundering;  each  month  all  bills  were  paid,  — no- 
thing was  ever  allowed  to  stand  over  the  appointed 
day ;  Stanislaus  was  the  only  monarch  who  was  never 
in  debt  and  never  in  need  of  money. 

With  all  his  thrift  he  maintained  the  dignity  of 
a  ruler;  he  had  his  companies  of  guards,  a  grand 
marshal,  a  grand  master  of  the  house,  chamberlains, 
gentlemen  in  waiting,  forty  valets,  twenty-four  cooks, 
and  a  mistress,  but  his  dislike  for  pomp  allowed  him 
to  dispense  with  many  costly  officials.^  A  gentleman 
in  the  employ  of  the  former  Duke  of  Lorraine  applied 
to  Stanislaus  for  a  similar  position.  "What  was 
your  office?"  asked  the  monarch.  "I  was  master  of 
ceremonies,"  replied  the  gentleman.  "Alas,"  said 
the  king,  "I  never  allow  any  one  even  to  make  a  rev- 
erence before  me."  His  was  a  model  court.  At 
nine  every  night,  when  the  dukes  and  marquises  of 
Versailles  were  ready  for  the  gambling-tables,  Stanis- 
laus and  his  courtiers  went  peaceably  to  bed. 

The  king  conversed  affably  with  every  one ;  he  rode 
about  the  country  attended  by  a  single  groom;  no 
monarch  was  so  easy  of  access.  He  delighted  in 
pleasures  which  showed  an  amiable,  though  not,  per- 

1  His  mistress,  the  Marquise  de  Boufilers,  indited  for  herself, 
the  well-known  epitaph  :  — 

"  Ci  git  dans  une  paix  profonde 
Cette  (laiiit^  dp  vohipti', 
Qui  pour  plus  graude  euretti 
Fit  sou  paradis  daiiB  co  monde." 


162  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

haps,  a  profound  mind.  He  had  a  dwarf,  and  in  the 
days  of  the  Encyclopedia,  few  kings  condescended  to 
be  amused  by  dwarfs.  Bebe  was  a  prominent  figure 
at  this  simple-minded  court.  On  one  occasion  a 
great  pate  appeared  on  the  table,  and  from  it  emerged 
the  dwarf,  armed  cap-a-pie,  who  proceeded  to  perform 
his  evolutions,  to  the  delight  of  all  except  one  gentle- 
man, whom  he  hit  on  the  nose  with  his  spear.  ^  The 
king  had  an  artificial  waterfall  constructed,  in  which 
he  took  great  pride.  When  the  water  was  turned  on, 
cocks  crew,  a  cat  pursued  a  rat,  a  hermit  beat  his 
breast,  a  cart  man  drove  his  cart,  to  the  delight  of 
guests  in  an  age  less  sophisticated  than  ours.^  The 
king  had  other  ways  of  amusing  himself.  He  spent 
many  hours  pviffing  away  at  a  pipe  six  feet  long ;  he 
compounded  new  dishes,  and  donning  his  apron,  with 
an  attendant  to  assist  him,  he  concocted  an  imitation 
Tokay,  which  was  thought  to  possess  much  merit,  and 
a  bottle  of  which  many  years  later,  either  on  account 
of  its  maker  or  its  quality,  sold  for  forty  francs.  But 
Stanislaus  was  a  scholar  as  well:  he  loved  to  talk 
philosophy  with  men  of  learning;  he  wrote  answers 
to  Rousseau's  sophisms ;  he  published  essays  on  polit- 
ical questions,  which  unfortimately  few  ever  bothered 
to  read ;  he  issued  dissertations  on  the  proper  conduct 
of  kings,  and  exemplified  them  in  his  own  life. 

Moderate  as  was  his  income,  he  had  much  for 
splendor  and  much  for  charity.  lie  built  extensively, 
and  made  Nancy  a  handsome  city;  he  constructed 
palaces  and  churches  and  hosj)itals,  tearing  down 
sometimes,  for  his  improvements,  buildings  which  we 

'  Noel,  Mem.  pour  nennr. 

'■*  The  Duke  of  Luyiies  has  described  Lis  wouder  and  delight 
at  this  piece  u£  luechauisui. 


WAR  OF  THE  POLISH  SUCCESSION.       163 

should  think  more  interesting  and  more  beautiful; 
but  such  was  the  fashion  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
He  established  institutions  of  learning  and  of  benefi- 
cence ;  he  had  his  little  academy  at  Nancy,  in  imita- 
tion of  the  great  academy  at  Paris ;  he  gave  liberally 
to  the  poor,  founded  a  hospital  for  infirm  soldiers, 
endowed  a  public  library,  supported  twelve  Jesuit 
missionaries,  and  gave  portions  to  eight  daughters  of 
needy  noblemen,  on  which  to  marry.  He  established 
another  charity  which  was  his  own  invention,  and 
intended  to  preserve  his  subjects  from  the  voracity  of 
lawyers;  five  counselors,  men  of  learning  and  integ- 
rity, were  paid  a  fixed  salary,  in  return  for  which 
they  were  bound  to  give  gratuitous  advice  to  all  who 
applied  for  it. 

The  little  court  at  Luneville  became  a  favorite 
resort  for  men  of  letters,  who  found  in  Stanislaus  a 
hospitable  entertainer  and  an  agreeable  companion. 
Montesquieu  visited  it,  and  Henault  and  Helve  tins; 
Voltaire  made  long  stays  there,  and  Mme.  de  Chatelet 
there  met  with  the  Marquis  of  St.  Lambert  and 
her  death.  When  the  kindly  old  king  unfortunately 
set  his  robe  de  chambre  on  fire,  and  died  from  his 
injuries,  his  loss  was  sincerely  mourned  by  his  sub- 
jects, and  this  cannot  be  said  of  many  sovereigns, 
who  were  more  powerful  and  more  wise.^ 

*  Many  accounts  of  Stanislaus's  life  in  Lorraine  are  found  in 
the  memoirs  of  Luynes  and  Hdnault.  His  official  dealings  with 
the  government  are  contained  among  the  documents  marked 
Lorraine  at  the  Affaires  Etrangeres.  Noel,  in  his  Memoires  pour 
servir  a  Vhistoire  de  Lorraine,  while  acknowledging  Stanislaus's 
amial)le  character,  says  that  his  charities  were  not  always  wise, 
and  that  the  administration  of  the  French  officials  during  his 
reign  was  often  harsh,  and  this  very  possihly  is  correct. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  WAR  OP  THE  AUSTRIAN   SUCCESSION. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Polish  Succes- 
sion, Fleury  again  enjoyed  the  tranquillity  that  was 
dear  to  his  soul.  With  the  exception  of  two  years  of 
bad  crops,  the  country  enjoyed  a  reasonable  prosper- 
ity ;  the  budget  showed  a  surplus ;  though  his  enemies 
watched  eagerly  for  the  signs  of  approaching  dissolu- 
tion, the  old  cardinal,  now  nearing  ninety,  still  held 
his  power  unimpaired,  and  he  could  look  forward  to 
a  peaceful  ending  of  a  long  and  successful  political 
career. 

These  reasonable  anticipations  were  doomed  to  dis- 
appointment. In  1740,  the  Emperor  Charles  VI. 
was  a  man  of  only  fifty-five ;  his  health  was  some- 
what impaired,  but  he  might  reasonably  expect  many 
more  years  of  life.  He  had  shown,  however,  more 
than  ordinaiy  solicitude  in  his  endeavors  to  regulate 
the  condition  of  his  empire  after  he  should  be  taken 
away.  For  almost  five  hundred  years  the  House  of 
Hapsburg  had  ruled  in  Austria,  and  for  three  centu- 
ries the  imperial  crown  had  been  worn  by  Austrian 
archdukes.  The  possessions  of  this  ancient  and  illus- 
trious family  had  been  increased  by  marriage  and  by 
conquest,  but  no  effort  had  been  made  to  mould  into 
one  nationality  the  scattered  states  which  owed  it  alle- 
giance. Such  a  task  would  have  been  difficult,  and  to 
some  extent  impossible.  Even  if  Austria  had  mani- 
fested the  genius  for  assimilation  which  has  been  a 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     165" 

chief  factor  in  the  greatness  of  France,  no  common 
feeling  of  patriotism  woukl  have  united  Germans  and 
Bohemians,  Hungarians  and  Italians.  The  states  had 
been  artificially  joined  together,  and  they  might  easily 
fall  asunder ;  they  were  held  by  varied  titles,  by  in- 
heritance, conquest,  and  treaty,  and  there  was  hardly 
one  of  these  scattered  possessions  to  which  other  rulers 
could  not  advance  plausible  claims,  on  the  failure  of 
the  male  line  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg. 

Charles  had  no  sons  to  inherit  his  throne,  and  his 
daughter  Maria  Theresa,  was  heiress  of  his  estates. 
It  was  certain  that  the  imperial  crown  could  not  be 
worn  by  a  woman,  but  Charles  hoped  the  electors 
would  make  choice  of  his  son-in-law,  the  former  Duke 
of  Lorraine,  now  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  and  the 
dignity  might  thus  be  preserved  to  his  family.  He 
knew,  however,  that  the  hereditary  possessions  of  his 
house  were  far  more  important  than  the  sounding 
title  of  emperor,  and  for  many  years  his  energies 
had  been  devoted  to  obtaining  the  recognition  of  the 
claims  of  his  daughter  Maria  Theresa.  Apparently 
these  efforts  had  been  successful.  France,  Spain, 
Prussia,  Russia,  England,  and  most  of  the  minor 
German  powers  had  recognized  her  rights  to  the  in- 
heritance of  her  father;  she  had  the  agreement  of 
many  of  these  states  to  protect  her  against  all  ene- 
mies ;  if  faith  could  be  put  in  treaties,  Charles  might 
die  in  peace. 

There  was  never  a  period  when  treaties  were  less 
respected  or  more  lightly  violated  ;  it  was  ^  common- 
l)lace  among  diplomats  that  kings  were  bound  by 
their  agreements  so  long  t)nly  as  it  was  for  their  in- 
terest to  observe  them  ;  and  this  maxim  had  long 
controlled  the  practice  of  European  rulers.     It  had 


166  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

recently  found  a  conspicuous  example  In  Louis  XIV., 
who  rarely  observed  a  treaty  to  his  disadvantage ;  it 
was  to  find  its  most  illustrious  exponent  in  Frederick 
the  Great,  who  never  did  so. 

Charles  had  been  emperor  for  nearly  thirty  years ; 
he  was  too  familiar  with  the  practices  of  other  courts, 
and  of  his  own,  to  feel  sure  that  his  daughter  would 
be  undisturbed  in  her  inheritance,  because  the  great 
powers  of  Europe  had  promised  that  she  should  be. 
But  there  were  reasons  of  more  weight  than  diplo- 
matic signatures  which  might  reasonably  lead  him  to 
hope  that  no  attempt  would  be  made  to  despoil  Maria 

/Theresa.  France  had  no  interest  in  interfering ;  the 
time  was  past  when  she  had  any  cause  to  fear  the  as- 
cendency of  the  House  of  Austria,  or  when  her  safety 
demanded  the  abasement  of  that  power:  a  policy 
which  had  been  wise  in  the  days  of  Richelieu  would 
be  folly  in  the  days  of  Fleury.  Wisdom  was  not 
always  found  in  the  councils  of  France,  but  Fleury 
was  the  head  of  the  administration,  and  a  long  politi- 
cal career  had  proved  his  moderation  and  his  good 
sense ;  his  aversion  to  war  was  well  known,  his  skill 
in  averting  it  had  been  often  shown,  his  influence 
would  surely  be  exercised  in  behalf  of  peace.  There 
''  was  no  reason  to  apprehend  the  hostility  of  England ; 
that  coimtry  would  be  more  apt  to  exert  itself  in  be- 
half of  the  House  of  Austria  than  in  opposition  to  it. 
Spain  had  ratified  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  but  neither 
Philip  nor  his  wife  would  be  influenced  by  that  fact ; 
they  would  be  eager  to  disturb  the  peace  of  Europe, 
if  there  was  any  prospect  of  obtaining  Italian  pos- 

^  sessions  for  their  offspring ;  but  unless  Spain  was 
assisted  by  France,  her  hostility  was  not  important. 
The  Elector  of  Bavaria,  almost  alone  among  princes 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     167 

of  importance,  had  refused  to  recognize  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction.*  He  was  ambitious  for  the  imperial  crown, 
he  laid  claim  to  some  of  the  hereditary  dominions  of 
the  House  of  Austria,  and  his  claims  were  not  alto- 
gether without  foundation ;  he  could  assume  a  posi- 
tion of  hostility  to  Maria  Theresa  without  violating 
his  faith,  but  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  was  not  a  sover- 
eign of  sufficient  importance  to  excite  any  apprehen- 
sion in  the  heir  of  Charles  VI.  There  seemed  no 
reason  why  Russia  should  interfere.  Prussia  was 
ruled  by  a  young  king  who  was  known  to  Europe 
by  a  book  he  had  published  in  denunciation  of  the 
principles  of  Macchiavelli ;  it  could  not  have  been  an- 
ticipated that  he  would  become  their  chief  exponent. 
He  was,  moreover,  under  a  strong  debt  of  gratitude 
to  the  emperor,  whose  friendly  interference  had  tem- 
pered the  capricious  rage  of  his  eccentric  father,  and 
whose  ambassador  had  furnished  him  money  which  he 
had  eagerly  accepted  .^ 

The  value  of  treaties  with  the  great  powers  of  Eu- 
rope was  soon  to  be  tested.  Though  the  health  of  the 
emperor  had  been  for  some  time  declining,  his  con- 
dition was  not  thought  to  be  alarming.  He  took  a 
severe  cold,  and  to  this  was  added  an  attack  of  indi- 

1  In  1726,  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  signed  a  treaty  recognizing 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  but  the  treaty  had  expired,  and  it  had 
long  been  publicly  announced  that  the  elector  claimed  this  in- 
strument to  be  invalid. 

2  The  common  tradition  that  Frederick's  life  was  saved  by  the 
interference  of  the  emperor  is  a  mistake.  The  Austrian  ambas- 
sador did  not  present  the  appeal  of  his  court  for  mercy  until 
Frederick  William  had  decided  to  pardon  his  offending  son. 
But  the  knowledge  that  the  imperial  court  would  disapprove 
any  such  severity  had  its  effect  upon  the  irritable  king.  Lavisse, 
Jeunesse  du  grand  Frederic,  269,  313. 


168  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

gestion  from  eating  too  freely  of  mushrooms  ;  he  grew 
rapidly  worse,  and  after  an  illness  of  a  few  days,  on 
October  20,  1740,  he  died.  He  was  succeeded  by  his 
daughter  Maria  Theresa,  who  was  then  twenty-three 
years  of  age.  The  long  anticipated  failure  of  the  male 
line  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  was  a  reality ;  a  woman 
for  the  first  time  was  called  upon  to  rule  over  the 
scattered  dominions  of  that  family,  and  it  was  now  to 

'  be  seen  whether  the  powers  of  Europe  would  abide 
by  their  agreements  and  allow  her  to  enjoy  her  her- 
itage in  peace,  or  whether  they  would  attempt  to  de- 
spoil her  of  her  possessions  because  they  believed  she 
was  unable  to  defend  them. 

Any  doubts  on  the  subject  were  soon  removed. 
The  emperor  died  on  October  20,  and  on  the  26th 
the  news  reached  Frederick  II.  at  Rheinsberg.  On 
the  same  date  he  wrote  Voltaire,  "  I  think  by  June  we 
shall  have  more  to  do  with  powder  and  soldiers  and 
trenches  than  with  actresses  and  ballets  and  theatres."  ^ 
The  king  decided  on  his  policy  with  the  promptness 
which  characterized  his  extraordinary  intellect ;  he  at 

ronce  resolved  that  he  would  take  Silesia  from  Maria 
Theresa,  peacefully  if  he  could,  and  forcibly  if  he 
must.  The  report  prepared  by  Frederick's  order  and 
dated  October  29,  three  days  after  the  news  was  re- 
ceived of  the  emperor's  death,  states  explicitly  that 

.  the  king  had  decided  to  profit  by  the  present  pros- 
perous condition  of  affairs  and  annex  Silesia,  this 
being  the  most  favorable  opportunity  for  the  solid 
aggrandizement  of  Prussia  which  had  presented  itself 
for  a  long  period.^  Frederick  was  right  in  recogniz- 
ing the  importance  of  Silesia,  and  in  deciding  ^lat  this 

*  Frederick  to  Voltaire,  October  26,  1740  ;  (Em.,  x.  1G3. 
'  Politische  Correspondcnz  Friedrichs  des  Grossen,  i.  74. 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     169 

was  the  favorable  moment  to  acquire  it,  and  neither 
treaties  nor  good  faith  prevented  him  from  seizing  the 
opportunity.  Some  feeble  claims  of  right  were  indeed 
advanced,  after  Frederick  had  first  taken  the  province 
by  force.     It  is  unnecessary  to  discuss  them. 

Silesia  had  long  been  in  the  peaceful  possession  of 
the  House  of  Hapsburg ;  it  had  never  formed  part  of 
Prussia  ;  the  claims  of  the  House  of  Brandenburg  on 
the  most  of  Silesia  had  accrued  eighty  years  before, 
and  on  other  portions  they  were  yet  more  stale ;  they 
had  never  been  acknowledged,  and  they  had  been 
expressly  waived  by  repeated  treaties.  Frederick 
William  had  ratified  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  which 
secured  to  Maria  Theresa  all  the  possessions  of  her 
father,  and  recognized  her  title  to  Silesia  as  much 
as  to  Vienna ;  as  has  been  truly  said,  if  the  titles  of 
states  or  individuals  can  be  disturbed  after  fourscore 
years  of  peaceable  possession,  there  can  be  no  peace 
for  nations  or  private  citizens. 

These  flimsy  pretexts  of  legal  right  never  for  one 
moment  influenced  Frederick  himself.  When  his 
counselors  suggested  that  by  certain  treaties  the 
House  of  Brandenburg  had  possibly  renounced  its 
rights,  he  wrote  contemptuously  on  the  margin  of 
their  memorandum,  "  The  question  of  right  is  an  af- 
fair of  the  ministers.  ...  It  is  time  to  consider  it  in 
secret,  for  the  orders  to  the  troops  have  been  given."  ^ 
"  My  soldiers  were  ready,  my  purse  was  full,"  he 
said  himself.  "  Of  all  the  imperial  succession,  Silesia 
was  the  portion  which  was  most  usefid  to  the  House 
of  Brandenburg."  ^     "  Take  when  you  can  !  "  he  said 

^  Pol.  Cor.,  i.  91,  Mem.  of  November  7,  by  Podewils. 
^  lb.,  90.    Iddes  sur  les  projets  politiques  formees  au  sujet  de 
la  mort  de  I'empereur,  signed  by  Frederick,  Mem.  de  Voltaire. 


170  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

again  ;  "  you  are  never  wrong  unless  you  are  obliged 
to  give  back." 

It  has  been  reserved  for  modern  historians  to  trace 
the  analogy  between  Frederick's  procedure  and  the 
principles  which  he  had  laid  down  in  the  "  Anti-Mac- 
chiavel ; "  ^  their  hero  never  made  the  attempt,  and 
he  would  have  viewed  such  an  effort  with  contemptu- 
ous indifference.  In  truth,  with  Frederick  the  Great 
as  with  Napoleon,  questions  of  morality  and  of  good 
faith  must  be  left  out  of  the  consideration.    Frederick, 

'^as  Macaulay  truly  said,  was  a  tyrant  "without  fear, 
without  faith,  and  without  mercy."  He  left  it  for 
others  to  meditate  on  what  was  justified  by  legal  right, 
or  was  consistent  with  good  faith  ;  he  considered  only 
the  results  of  his  acts  upon  his  fame  and  upon  the 
aggrandizement  of  his  kingdom.  He  could  say  in  his 
own  defense  that  he  was  influenced  by  considerations 
of  larger  importance  to  posterity  than  whether  a  treaty 
was  observed  or  a  king's  word  was  kept ;  the  conquest 

.^of  Silesia  was  an  important  acquisition  for  a  state 
which  has  since  become  the  most  powerful  in  Europe. 
What  Prussia  gained,  Austria  lost,  but  such  is  the 
general  law  :  the  Roman  Empire  was  not  built  up  with 
any  tender  regard  for  the  states  which  were  absorbed 
in  it ;  civilized  peoples  have  conquered  and  extermi- 
nated inferior  tribes,  and  the  world  is  the  better  for  it. 

'The  law  of  force  is  the  ultimate  one  in  society  as  well 
as  in  nature,  and  judgment  must  often  be  formed  on 
an  act  from  its  results,  but  the  endeavor  to  square  the 
conduct  of  Frederick  the  Great  with  the  Golden  RfTle 
or  the  Ten  Commandments  will  never  "be  successful.^ 

*  "  Er  verf  uhr  nach  den  Maximen,  die"  er  im  antimachievell 
aasgesprochen  hatte,"  says  Droysen,  i.  154. 

*  The  defense  of  whatever  Frederick  did  and  of  the  way  in 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     171 

Frederick's  policy  from  the  time  he  mounted  the 
throne  showed  his  desire  to  increase  the  power  of 
Prussia  whenever  an  opportiuiity  should  offer ;  he  did 
not  disturb  himself  about  the  balance  of  power  in 
Europe ;  he  knew  that  the  one  thing  of  importance  v 
was  to  get  something  for  himself.  To  every  court  he 
proposed  an  alliance,  but  with  the  suggestion  that  his 
assistance  could  not  be  obtained  gratuitously.  His 
representative  at  Paris  was  instructed  to  say  that 
Frederick  loved  France,  yet,  if  he  was  neglected,  that 
feeling  might  pass  away  forever.  "If  I  am  desired 
as  an  ally,"  he  wrote  to  his  minister  in  England,  "  I 
must  be  shown  advantages  which  are  real.  Up  to  this 
time  I  see  only  general  protestations  of  friendship."  ^ 

The  death  of  the  emperor  furnished  the  opportu- 
nity which  Frederick  had  desired.  He  at  once  re- 
solved to  seize  Silesia,  but  during  the  brief  prepara- 
tions which  were  required  he  endeavored  to  lull  the 
suspicions  of  the  Austrian  court,  and  sought  allies 
wherever  they  could  be  found.  If  his  private  com- 
munications do  not  display  a  high  sense  of  honor,  they 
manifest  a  marvelous  sagacity  and  adroitness.  Pode-' 
wils  asks  how  Frederick's  intentions  shall  be  stated 
by  his  ambassadors  at  foreign  courts.  "  At  every  ^ 
court  in  a  different  fashion,"  writes  the  author  of  the 
"  Anti-Macchiavel."  "  At  London  we  must  say  that 
the   Duke   of   Lorraine  wishes  to  make  terms  with 

which  he  did  it  has  been  nowhere  presented  with  more  learning 
and  force  than  in  Droysen's  Geschichte  des  Preussischen  Politiks. 
It  is  easier  to  agree  with  the  eminent  historian's  judgment  on 
Frederick's  policy  than  on  its  moral  quality.  "Frederick  II. 
fiihlt  sich  moralisch  bef ugt "  to  demand  Silesia,  he  says,  v. 
153.  The  term  "  moralisch  bef  ugt  "  is  not  one  which  Frederick 
would  ever  have  applied  to  himself. 
1  Pol  Cor.,  4  ;  lb.,  61,  October  13,  1740. 


172  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

France,  and  that  I  approach  Vienna  to  force  the  Aus- 
trians  to  join  the  party  of  the  maritime  powers  and  of 
the  Protestant  religion.  At  Hanover,  Mayence,  and 
Ratisbon  we  must  talk  of  a  patriotic  heart,  and  say 
that  I  wish  to  sustain  tte  empire.  As  for  the  French, 
we  must  handle  those  miscreants  with  gloves."  ^  While 
other  powers  hesitated  about  the  official  recognition 
•^of  Maria  Theresa,  Frederick  recognized  her  title  at 
once.  When  rumors  of  his  military  preparations 
reached  Vienna  they  excited  little  alarm.  "  He  will 
he  like  his  father,"  it  was  said,  "  who  all  his  life  was 
cocking  his  gun,  but  never  let  it  off."  "The  queen 
will  see  how  reasonable  are  my  projects,  and  how  pure 
are  my  intentions,"  he  told  her  envoy  ;  "  assure  her  of 
my  devotion." 

All  went  favorably.  Frederick  had  feared  the  in- 
terference of  Russia,  and  when  he  heard  of  the  ap- 
proaching death  of  the  Czarina  Anna  he  could  not 
restrain  his  joy.  "  The  Empress  of  Russia  is  going  to 
die,"  he  wrote  Podewils ;  "  God  favors  us."  ^  "  Adieu, 
my  dear  charlatan,"  he  wrote  his  minister  a  few  days 
later ;  "  keep  a  good  countenance,  give  no  signs,  the 
bomb  will  burst  in  December."  ^ 

In  December  the  bomb  exploded,  to  the  consterna- 
tion of  all  Europe.  Frederick  entered  Silesia  at  the 
head  of  his  army,  and  conquered  the  province  practi- 
cally without  resistance.  Having  done  this,  he  di- 
rected his  ambassador  to  offer  his  assistance  to  Maria 
Theresa,  and  to  demand  Silesia  as  the  price.*     He 

*  Pol.  Cor.,  i.  98-100.  An  den  Statsminster  Podewils,  m^m. 
signed  by  Frederick.  The  word  applied  to  the  French  does  not 
admit  of  literal  translation. 

2  lb.,  96,  November  9,  1740. 
8  Ih.,  100,  November  12. 

*  lb.,  lZ2etpas. 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     173 

acted  upon  his  favorite  maxim,  he  took  first  and  asked 
afterwards.  This  unprovoked  assault  excited  as  much 
amazement  in  other  courts  as  it  did  indignation  at 
Vienna,  but  Frederick  was  riglit  in  thinking  that  it 
would  excite  very  little  else.  "  If  the  king  acts  thus," 
said  the  English  ambassador  at  Vienna,  "  he  will  be 
excommunicated  from  the  society  of  nations  ;  "  yet  it 
was  not  long  before  England  herself  exerted  every 
effort  to  secure  for  Frederick  the  province  he  had 
seized. 

The  character  of  Maria  Theresa  was  as  yet  un- 
known, and  Frederick  was  not  without  hope  that  she 
would  cede  the  province  for  the  sake  of  peace.  "  It 
can  be  seen,"  he  wrote,  just  as  he  was  to  start  for  the 
invasion  of  Silesia,  "  that  my  intention  has  never  been 
to  make  war  on  the  queen  of  Hungary,  but  that  I 
am  ready  to  succor  and  assist  her  with  all  my  forces 
in  case  of  need."  ^  He  now  wrote  his  ambassador  at 
Vienna  to  impress  upon  the  queen  that  he  had  entered 
Silesia  in  order  that  he  might  the  better  assist  the 
House  of  Austria,  and  save  it  from  the  ruin  with  which 
it  was  threatened ;  if  that  province  was  ceded  to  him, 
he  would  agree  to  protect  the  other  possessions  of 
Maria  Theresa  against  any  invader,  and  to  use  all  his 
influence  to  procure  the  election  of  the  grand  duke  as 
emperor.^ 

While  one  ambassador  was  offering  Frederick's  vote 
to  the  queen  of  Hungary,  others  were  equally  busy  in 
trying  to  find  a  purchaser  for  the  same  article  else- 
where. Frederick  had  said  that  his  vote  for  emperor 
was  for  sale,  and  he  did  not  intend  to  have  the  price 
lowered  for  lack  of  bidders.     At  the  same  time,  he 

1  Valori,  December  12,  1740. 

2  Pol.  Cor.,  i.  220  et  pas. 


174  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

offered  his  support  to  the  candidate  of  Austria  and  to 
the  candidate  of  France ;  he  was  willing  to  defend 
the  Catholic  queen  of  Hungary,  or  to  proclaim  him- 
self the  champion  of  the  Protestants  whom  Austria 
had  oppressed,  if  only  he  could  have  Silesia  as  the 
reward  for  his  alliance ;  if  the  pay  was  satisfactory,  it 
was  immaterial  from  whom  he  got  it. 

Frederick  never  equaled  his  literary  preceptor  Vol- 
taire in  the  skill  with  which  he  could  turn  off  alex- 
andrines, but  there  are  touches  in  his  prose  worthy  of 
that  great  master  of  irony.  It  must  have  been  with  a 
complacent  smile  that  he  put  in  his  letter  to  Fleury, 
"  It  depends  on  you  to  make  the  bonds  which  bind  us 
eternal  by  favoring  the  justice  of  my  claims  on  Sile- 
sia," while  at  the  same  time  he  was  writing  George  II. 
of  England,  "  If  your  majesty  wishes  to  attach  a  faith- 
ful ally,  of  an  inviolable  fidelity,  now  is  the  moment."  ^ 
While  Frederick  was  making  promises  in  every  court 
which  he  had  no  thought  of  keeping,  he  confided  to 
his  own  minister  the  principle  by  which  his  conduct 
was  governed :  "  If  there  is  anything  to  be  gained  by 
»^  being  an  honest  man  we  will  be  one ;  and  if  it  is  neces- 
sary to  deceive,  let  us  be  knaves."  ^  The  king  prac- 
ticed with  unusual  skill  the  procedure  which  he  advo- 
cated ;  he  was  willing  to  avow  his  principles,  and  he 
made  no  claim  to  virtues  which  he  neither  possessed 
nor  cared  to  possess. 

Maria  Theresa  received  with  indignation  Freder- 
ick's offer  to  sell  his  assistance  and  take  Silesia  for 

1  To  king  of  England,  January  30,  1741;  to  Fleury,  January 
6,  1741. 

»  Frederick  to  PodewUs,  May  12,  1741.  "  S'il  y  a  k  gagner  k 
Stre  bonne te  hoinme  nous  le  serons,  et  s'il  faut  duper  soyons 
done  fourbes." 


WAR  OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.      175 

his  pay ;  resolute  as  he  was,  he  found  in  this  young 
girl  a  character  as  determined  as  his  own.  The  king 
seems  to  have  been  somewhat  surprised  and  still  more 
angered  at  her  determination.  Like  Napoleon,  Fred- 
erick was  vexed  when  any  one  refused  to  do  what  he 
desired  ;  resistance  irritated  him.  "  If  the  Duke  of 
Lorraine  wishes  to  destroy  himself  despite  my  good 
intentions,  let  him  destroy  himself,"  he  wrote,  when 
he  was  informed  of  the  manner  in  which  his  proposi- 
tions had  been  received.  England  refused  to  espouse 
his  quarrel,  and  the  only  powerful  ally  left  for  him 
was  France.  Frederick  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer 
of  French  literature ;  he  preferred  the  Henriade  to 
the  Iliad,  and  declared  Racine  superior  to  all  his  rivals 
of  antiquity.^  He  had  been  reared  on  French  philo- 
sophy, he  spoke  the  French  language  in  preference  to 
his  own,  and  yet  there  was  no  nation  which  he  viewed 
with  such  unfriendly  eyes  as  the  French.  He  scoffed 
at  all  the  world,  but  his  tongue  was  never  so  bitter  as 
when  he  discussed  French  statesmen  and  French  gen- 
erals. He  told  Podewils  to  play  with  France  until  it 
was  certain  that  he  could  make  no  treaty  elsewhere  ; 
alliance  with  the  French  must  be  the  last  resort.^  He 
distrusted  their  policy,  disliked  their  leaders,  and  de- 
spised their  king,  and  his  contempt  was  justified  by  the 
fatuity  with  which  they  lent  themselves  to  his  designs. 
The  attack  upon  Silesia  was  the  crisis  of  Freder- 
ick's life ;  if  he  failed  in  that,  his  reputation  was 
ruined ;  he  would  be  held  up  as  a  monarch  who  had 
no  more  judgment  than  he  had  scruples,  and  his  hopes « 
of  building  up  the  power  of  Prussia  woidd  be  dashed 
at  the  beginning  of  his  career ;  he  could  obtain  no 

1  Histoire  de  mon  temps,  i.  59. 
8  Pol.  Cor.,  i.  179  et  pas. 


176  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

other  ally,   and  he  now   eagerly  sought  the  aid  of 
France. 

We  must  now  consider  the  reasons  that  induced 
the  French  government  to  violate  its  plighted  vow, 
to  seek  the  ruin  of  Maria  Theresa,  and  to  assist  in 
strengthening  the  state  which  was  to  become  the  most 
bitter  and  most  dangerous  enemy  of  France.  The 
news  of  the  emperor's  death  excited  the  same  agita- 
tion at  Versailles  as  at  Berlin,  and  the  conduct  of 

'  France  at  this  crisis  was  as  important  to  her  future  as 
was  that  of  Prussia  to  hers ;  it  was  characterized  by 
equal  bad  faith,  and  by  much  less  political  wisdom. 
i/  The  war  of  the  Austrian  Succession  was  a  turning- 
point  in  French  history.  The  contest,  which  began 
in  1741,  was  not  really  terminated  imtil  the  treaty 
of  Paris  in  1763 ;  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  a 
breathing-spell,  the  parties  changed  partners,  but  the 
war  for  the  ruin  of  Prussia  sprang  from  that  under- 
taken for  the  ruin  of  Austria.  During  fourteen  years 
hostilities  were  carried  on  in  Europe,  Asia,  Amer- 
ica, and  on  the  great  seas,  and  they  were  attended 
with  results  which  have  modified  the  history  of  the 
world.  Most  wars  are  barren  of  result ;  thirty  years 
after  their  close,  the  parties  to  them  are  in  the  same 
condition  as  if  they  had  remained  at  peace ;  the  tem- 
porary waste  of  men  and  money  has  been  repaired ; 
all  that  remains  is  a  little  glory  for  a  few,  and  the 
dim  recollection  of  suffering  among  many. 

/  The  contest  which  now  began  had  results  of  a  dif- 
ferent character.  The  position  of  France  in  the  world 
was  materially  altered,  and  her  opportunity  to  exer- 
cise a  large  influence  in  the  development  of  America 

j,and  India  was  forever  lost.  What  France  lost,  Eng- 
land gained :  English  speech  and  English  civilization 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     177 

have  spread  over  vast  areas  where  those  of  Franco 
bade  fair  to  prevail ;  France  failed  to  obtain  the  posi- 
tion of  a  great  colonizing  power  as  a  result  of  the  war 
which  she  began  in  folly  and  bad  faith. 

The  ultimate  consequences  of  this  contest  have  also 
altered  her  position  in  Europe.  The  imification  of 
Germany  under  the  leadership  of  Prussia  might  in-- 
deed  have  taken  place  if  France  had  never  given 
aid  to  Frederick  the  Great ;  the  fact  remains  that 
in  order  to  weaken  a  power  which  could  never  again 
have  been  dangerous,  she  helped  to  build  up  a  state 
which  now  possesses  the  military  ascendency  on  the 
continent  that  France  once  held.  It  would  have  been 
impossible  for  any  statesman  to  foresee  such  a  result, 
but  none  the  less  it  was  a  lack  of  political  wisdom 
which  involved  the  country  in  hostilities  against  Maria 
Theresa. 

It  is  not  only  in  the  loss  of  foreign  territory  and  of 
external  influence  that  we  can  trace  the  results  of  the 
war  undertaken  to  weaken  the  House  of  Austria  and 
continued  to  punish  the  House  of  Brandenburg.  The 
French  have  always  been  jealous  of  their  national 
reputation ;  no  people  have  been  more  submissive 
under  rulers  who  increased  the  national  prestige ;  no 
people  have  been  more  impatient  under  rulers  who 
were  outgeneraled  in  battle  or  outwitted  in  diplo- 
macy. Under  what  we  may  call  the  modern  Frencli 
monarchy,  the  line  of  kings  who  ruled  after  the  feudal 
system  had  become  a  thing  of  the  past,  there  had 
often  been  suffering  among  the  people,  the  internal 
condition  of  the  country  left  much  to  be  desired,  but 
the  destinies  of  France  as  a  great  Eui'opean  power 
had,  on  the  whole,  been  guided  with  wisdom  and  suc- 
cess.    France  had  grown  in  power  in  comparison  with 


178  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

all  her  rivals  ;  few  of'^her  wars  ended  disastrously ;  Ler 
victories  far  outnumbered  her  defeats ;  even  the  war 
of  the  Spanish  Succession,  begun  by  Louis  XIV.  for 
family  aggrandizement,  and  attended  with  unwonted 
/military  disasters,  had  resulted  in  accomplishing  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  commenced ;  however  little 
France  profited  by  this,  it  lessened  any  feeling  of 
national  disgrace.  Monarchy  in  France  was  associated 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  with  growth  in  power,  vic- 
tory in  the  field,  the  enlargement  of  French  terri- 
tory, the  increase  of  French  influence. 

Under  Louis  XV.  this  feeling  was  weakened,  if  it 
was  not  destroyed.  In  the  war  of  the  Austrian  Suc- 
cession, though  the  French  armies  were  often  success- 
ful, the  country  gained  nothing ;  the  only  fruits  of 
years  of  strife  were  an  increase  of  the  national  in- 
debtedness and  a  weakening  of  the  national  influence. 
"The  Seven  Years'  war,  which  sprang  from  the  half- 
extinguished  ashes  of  the  former  contest,  was  far 
more  disastrous.  The  French  armies  were  defeated, 
the  country  was  disgraced ;  it  was  forced  to  sacrifice 
its  possessions,  and  to  make  an  ignominious  peace. 
Beyond  all  doubt,  these  calamities  weakened  the  hold 
of  royal  institutions  on  the  French  mind ;  the  mon- 
archy became  discredited ;  it  was  identified  with  de- 
feat, with  military  disgrace,  with  the  loss  of  national 
influence.  Had  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  been  success- 
ful and  glorious,  the  state  of  public  feeling  would 
have  been  far  different  when  the  royal  authority 
passed  to  an  amiable  successor.  The  inglorious  and 
^^unproductive  contests  which  now  began  helped  to  de- 
stroy that  reverence  for  monarchy  which  had  for 
centuries  been  strong  among  the  French  people. 

The  arguments  for  wnr  with  Maria  Theresa  had 


WAR  OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     179 

their  foundation  in  a  common  phase  of  intellectual 
shortsightedness,  the  inability  to  recognize  changes 
in  the  condition  of  affairs,  and  the  belief,  which  is  so 
widespread  and  often  so  pernicious,  that  what  was 
wise  for  our  forefathers  must  be  wise  for  us,  their 
descendants.  It  Jiad  been  the  aim  of  Richelieu  and 
Mazarin  to  procure  for  France  the  ascendency  in  Eu- 
ropean politics  which  had  been  exercised  by  the  House 
of  Austria.  Richelieu  had  taken  part  in  the  Thirty 
Years'  war,  and  he  had^allied  himself  with  Protestant 
powers  in  the  endeavor  to  weaken  the  most  formida- 
ble rival  of  France.  '  These  efforts  had  been  success- 
ful, and  their  success  was  the  reason  that  it  was  no 
longer  the  part  of  wisdom  to  pursue  them.  In  1640, 
Austria  was  a  dangerous  enemy  to  France ;  it  was 
idle  to  assert  that  she  was  in  1740.  In  the  century 
that  had  elapsed,  the  House  of  Bourbon  had  been 
steadily  gaining  in  power,  and  the  House  of  Haps- 
burg  had  been  steadily  declining.  There  coidd  be 
no  better  proof  of  the  weakened  condition  of  Austria 
than  was  furnished  by  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Suc- 
cession. Long  years  of  defeat  and  of  internal  distress 
had  brought  France  to  the  verge  of  ruin  ;  yet  no  sooner 
had  the  maritime  powers  made  peace,  than  the  em- 
peror alone  found  himself  unable  to  continue  the  con- 
test with  Louis  XIV.,  and  was  forced  to  consent  to 
the  conditions  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht. 

France  under  Louis  XV.  had  nothing  to  gain  by 
further  weakening  the  Hpuse  of  Austria,  and  still  less 
was  it  worth  while  to  go  to  war  in  order  to  transfer 
the  shadowy  authority  of  the  empire  to  some  other 
family.  It  had  long  been  apparent  that  the  emperor, 
except  a^  he  possessed  hereditary  dominions,  was  little 
more  than  a  myth.    It  imparted  an  additional  dignity 


180  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

to  the  king  of  Bohemia  and  the  archduke  of  Austria 
if  he  also  wore  the  imperial  crown  ;  it  entitled  him 
and  his  representatives  to  precedence  at  fetes  and 
pageants,  but  though  it  increased  his  dignity,  it  added 
practically  nothing  to  his  power.  It  was  pursuing 
phantoms  to  waste  blood  and  money  that  this  glitter- 
ing bauble  might  be  transferred  from  the  archdukes 
of  Austria  to  the  electors  of  Bavaria. 

The  news  of  the  emperor's  death  was  as  unexpected 
at  Versailles  as  at  Berlin,  but  months  passed  instead 
of  hours  before  France  decided  what  course  to  pursue 
in  this  grave  emergency.  If  only  treaty  obligations 
had  been  considered,  there  would  have  been  no  need 
for  delay.  The  war  with  Austria  had  been  closed  by 
the  treaty  signed  at  Vienna  in  1738.  By  this  France 
recognized  the  validity  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  and 
agreed  to  protect  Maria  Theresa  in  her  inheritance. 
This  agreement  was  based  on  good  consideration. 
The  Province  of  Lorraine  was  surrendered  to  Stan- 
islaus, and  at  his  death  it  was  to  be  annexed  to  France. 
It  was  an  important  gain.  Lorraine  was  valuable  from 
its  wealth  and  population,  valuable  as  a  defense  against 
invasion  from  the  east  bank  of  the  Rhine.  The  acqui- 
sition of  this  province,  long  indeed  under  French  in- 
fluence, but  now  at  last  incorporated  into  the  French 
kingdom,  had  been  the  crowning  achievement  of  the 
administration  of  Fleury. 

To  the  ordinary  mind  there  could  be  no  doubt  as  to 
the  exact  meaning  of  the  treaty  of  .1738.  No  words 
could  be  clearer  than  those  which  were  used.  The 
French  king  promised  for  himself  and  his  heirs  "  to 
defend  with  all  his  forces,  to  maintain  and  guarantee 
against  any  person  whatsoever,  whenever  there  shall 
be  need,  the  order  of  succession  which  His  Imperial 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.      181 

Majesty  has  established ; "  and  yet  during  the  nego- 
tiations for  the  treaty  as  well  as  after  the  death  of 
Charles  VI.,  questions  arose  as  to  the  just  interpreta- 
tion of  its  terms.  This  provision,  said  the  French, 
cannot  affect  the  rights  of  other  parties,  it  only  guar- 
antees the  archduchess  in  the .  possession  of  what  is 
lawfully  hers ;  but  if  this  construction  was  correct, 
the  whole  agreement  amounted  to  nothing.  It  was  to 
establish  the  title  of  his  daughter  against  the  claims 
of  other  persons  that  the  emperor  had  issued  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction  ;  if  the  guarantee  only  recognized 
Maria  Theresa's  right  to  what  no  one  else  claimed, 
it  was  not  worth  while  to  cede  a  province  in  order  to 
obtain  it.  '' 

That  such  was  its  meaning  was,  however,  insinuated 
not  only  to  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  but  to  the  emperor 
himself.  Among  all  the  German  powers,  Bavaria  had 
been  most  closely  allied  with  France.  Even  in  the 
days  of  Richelieu  and  Mazarin,  the  plan  had  been 
suggested  of  transferring  the  imperial  crown  from  the 
powerful  archdukes  of  Austria  to  the  friendly  elec- 
tors of  Bavaria.  In  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Suceession 
the  elector  had  remained  constant  to  his  alliance  with 
Louis  XIV.,  and  had  been  driven  from  his  dominions 
as  a  punishment.  When  peace  was  made,  Louis  in- 
sisted that  his  ally  should  be  restored,  and  as  a  fur- 
ther reward  for  his  fidelity,  he  made  a  secret  treaty  in 
1714  by  which  he  agreed  to  assist  him  to  be  chosen 
emperor,  if  there  should  be  a  failure  in  the  male  line 
of  the  House  of  Austria.^  In  1727,  a  further  treaty 
was  made  by  which  France  promised  to  support  the 
elector's  claims  to  the  kingdom  of  Bohemia  if  Charles 
VI.  died  leaving  no  sons,  though  still  another  treaty 
^  Cor.  de  Bavi'ere,  1714. 


182  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

signed  in  1733  might  perhaps  be  said  to  have  re- 
stricted this  agreement.  It  was,  therefore,  with  dis- 
may that  the  elector  heard  the  French  were  to  guar- 
antee the  Pragmatic  Sanction  as  a  condition  of  peace 
with  Austria,  and  he  at  once  protested  against  this 
abandonment  of  his  rights.  Fleury  replied  with  the 
courteous  finesse  of  which  he  was  so  perfect  a  master. 
France  had  no  thought  of  abandoning  her  old  ally,  he 
wrote,  but  as  the  nature  of  the  elector's  claims  was 
unknown,  it  was  impossible  to  say  how  far  they  de- 
served support.^  Thereupon  the  elector  sent  an  envoy 
to  Paris  to  explain  his  pretensions,  which  were  derived 
from  a  daughter  of  the  former  Emperor  Ferdinand 
I.  The  Austrians,  on  the  other  hand,  suspecting  the 
relations  which  existed  between  France  and  the  elec- 
tor, were  anxious  to  have  a  secret  article  added  to 
the  treaty,  which  should  in  express  words  guarantee 
against  any  claims  that  might  be  made  by  him. 
This  proposition  Fleury  avoided,  and  he  even  wrote 
to  the  emperor  telling  him  of  the  pretensions  now 
advanced  by  the  elector's  representative,  and  suggest- 
ing that  some  answer  should  be  presented  in  order  to 
throw  further  light  on  the  question.^  Such  an  answer 
was  promised,  but  it  was  never  sent ;  the  treaty  was 
at  last  signed  with  the  guarantee  of  Maria  Theresa's 
possessions  in  general  terms,  "against  any  person 
whatsoever,"  and  the  emperor  seems  to  have  felt  that 
this  was  sufficient.  So  it  was.  Notwithstanding  the 
suggestion  cautiously  thrown  out  by  Fleury  and  not 
expressly  contradicted  by  the  emperor,  that  this  guar- 
antee could  not  affect   the   rights   of   third   parties, 

'  Fleury  to  Elector,  November  4, 1735,  and  December  7, 1736. 
Cor.  de  Bamere. 
2  Cor.  de  Vienne,  1735;  lb.,  1737,  Fleury  to  Charles  VI. 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.      183 

it  meant  that  France  would  protect  Maria  Theresa 
against  claims  of  whatever  nature,  or  it  meant  nothing 
at  all. 

Immediately  after  the  death  of  Charles  VI.  the 
representative  of  the  Austrian  court  applied  to  Louis 
XV.  for  a  recognition  of  the  just  title  of  Maria 
Theresa  to  the  possessions  left  by  her  father.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  Fleury  desired  to  accede  to  this  re- 
quest. He  had  never  loved  war,  he  was  now  almost 
ninety  years  of  age,  and  he  wished  to  die  in  peace. 
He  was  aware  also  that  France  was  in  no  condition 
for  war ;  the  crops  had  been  poor,  the  finances  were 
disordered,  the  people  were  distressed.^  He  knew 
that  there  was  nothing  to  be  gained  by  Jiostilities ;  the 
talk.of  completing  the  work  of  Richelieu  by  the  final 
overthrow  of  the  power  of  Austria  allured  shallow- 
pated  courtiers,  but  he  was  too  sagacious  to  be  en- 
trapped by  such  arguments.  He  at  once  wrote  the 
Austrian  minister,  "  The  king  will  observe  faithfully 
all  the  engagements  he  has  made  with  your  court," 
and  if  he  had  followed  his  own  judgment,  this  would 
have  been  done.^ 

But  Fleury  was  a  very  old  man,  and  he  had  always 
shown  adroitness  of  conduct  rather  than  stixbborn  de- 
termination of  purpose  ;  amid  the  clamor  which  arose, 
the  cardinal  temporized ;  in  an  evil  hour  for  his  own 
fame  he  left  the  future  to  shape  itself,  and  the  course 
of  events  involved  him  in  a  policy  which  w^as  as  con- 
trary to  his  own  desires  as  it  was  to  wisdom  and  good 
faith.3  ^::^^^^-^, 

1  There  are  many  references  to  the  poor  condition  of  the 
country  iu  Barbier,  Argeuson,  Mem.  de  Luynes,  1740  ;  Dis.  Ven., 
232,  479,  et  pas. 

2  Fleury  to  Lichtenstein,  November  1,  1740. 

^  Almost  two  weeks  after  the  news  of  the  emperor's  death, 


184  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Almost  to  a  man,  the  nobility  were  eager  for  war. 
France  had  grown  great,  they  said,  by  weakening  the 
j)ower  of  the  House  of  Austria,  and  now  was  the  time 
to  complete  the  work;  to  neglect  this  opportunity 
would  be  to  depart  from  the  policy  of  Richelieu  and 
Louis  XIV.,  to  lose  the  fairest  occasion  ever  offered 
for  establishing  the  country's  preeminence  in  Europe. 
With  few  exceptions  the  nobles  were  soldiers :  they 
were  fond  of  fighting,  they  were  eager  for  the  dis- 
tinction which  might  be  gained  in  the  field ;  ambition 
and  the  love  of  excitement  were  mingled  with  a  blind 
adherence  to  what  was  supposed  to  be  the  ancient  and 
established  policy  of  France. 

Among  those  who  clamored  for  the  overthrow  of 
the  House  of  Austria  was  a  man  possessing  in  an 
unusual  degree  the  faculty  of  exciting  enthusiasm  and 
confidence,  and  who,  for  a  brief  period,  filled  one 
of  the  most  prominent  roles  in  European  politics. 
Charles  Louis  Fouquet,  Count  of  Belle  Isle,  was  a 
grandson  of  the  famous  Fouquet  whose  career  had 
closed  with  sixteen  years  of  imprisonment.  A  de- 
scendant of  the  disgraced  financier  had  small  chance 
of  gaining  the  favor  of  Louis  XIV.  BeUe  Isle  ob- 
tained promotion  in  the  army  as  a  reward  for  bravery, 
but  it  was  not  until  the  death  of  the  old  king  that  he 
began  to  push  his  fortunes  at  court.  When  there 
was  at  last  an  opportunity,  he  showed  vigor  and  skill 
in  making  his  way.  He  was  tall,  handsome,  polite, 
insinuating,  with  boundless  ambition  and  exactly  the 
talents  that  were  required  to  further  it ;  he  always 
pleased,  and  never  gave  offense ;  he  was  assiduous  to 

Fleury  told  tlie  Venetian  ambassador  that  France  had  guaran- 
teed the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  and  was  bound  to  observe  her 
agreement.     Dis.  Ven.,  232,  362. 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     185 

the  masters,  and  did  not  forget  the  valets ;  whether 
he  met  a  minister  of  state,  a  Parisian  bourgeois,  or 
a  parish  priest,  he  was  equally  desirous  of  making  a 
favorable  impression.^  The  count  knew  the  value  of 
money  as  did  his  grandfather  before  him,  and  like 
many  others  he  made  his  most  successful  speculations 
at  the  expense  of  the  state.  He  succeeded  in  ex- 
changing his  island  of  Belle  Isle,  which  yielded 
twenty-seven  thousand  livres  of  rent,  for  government 
lands  which  yielded  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
thousand,  and  he  received  half  a  million  in  money  be- 
sides.^ After  the  regent's  death,  Belle  Isle  was  not 
in  favor  at  court  and  was  thrown  into  the  Bastille, 
but  he  was  soon  released,  and  waited  impatiently  for 
an  opportunity  to  satisfy  a  restless  ambition.  At  last 
the  occasion  presented  itself.  In  the  discussions  which 
followed  the  emperor's  death,  Belle  Isle  took  a  promi- 
nent part ;  France,  bfe  said,  must  now  see  that  a  friend 
was  chosen  emperor,  and  that  the  dangerous  power 
of  Austria  was  forever  destroyed ;  this  was  the  golden 
opportunity,  success  was  certain,  and  the  ruin  of  the 
House  of  Hapsburg  inevitable.  He  was  confident ;  he 
was  eloquent :  his  speech  and  bearing  seemed  to  indi- 
cate a  man  fit  for  great  enterprises.  "  He  eats  little, 
sleeps  little,  and  thinks  a  great  deal,  rare  qualities  in 
France,"  said  an  observer.^  It  was  on  every  man's 
tongue  that  the  policy  advocated  by  Belle  Isle  must 
be  the  true  policy  to  be  pursued,  and  that  the  man  to 
carry  it  into  effect  was  Belle  Isle  himself. 

If  Fleury's  courage  had  equaled  his  sagacity,  he 
would  have  put  an  end  to  such  plans ;  his  influence 
over  the  king  was  still  unimpaired,  and  Louis  himself 

1  St.  Simon,  xvi.  166  et  pas.  «  Barbier,  i.  332. 

*  Journal  (TArgenson,  December  20,  1740. 


186  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

showed  on  this  occasion  the  political  sagacity  he  al- 
ways possessed,  but  which  his  indolence  and  indiffer- 
ence rendered  useless  to  his  kingdom.  He  declared 
that  he  would  not  interfere  in  the  election  of  an  em- 
peror. "  I  will  keep  my  hands  in  my  pockets,"  ho 
said,  "  unless  they  should  want  to  elect  a  Protestant."  ^ 
It  was  certainly  the  wisest  thing  he  could  have  done. 
But  Fleury  was  too  timid  to  confront  all  those  who 
loudly  advocated  a  vigorous  policy,  and  the  king  was 
too  indifferent  to  interfere  ;  he  allowed  his  ministers 
to  do  as  they  saw  fit,  and  contented  himself  with  crit- 
icising their  conduct. 

While  uncertainty  and  confusion  prevailed  in  the 
councils  of  Versailles,  the  invasion  of  Silesia  by  Fred- 
erick secured  the  victory  of  the  war  party.  The  first 
blow  had  been  struck,  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  had 
been  disregarded,  the  dismemberment  of  the  posses- 
sions of  the  House  of  Austria  had  begun ;  all  now 
wished  to  join  in  the  attack  and  share  in  the  spoil. 

v^Spain  and  Saxony,  the  House  of  Savoy  and  the  Elec- 
tor of  Bavaria,  were  all  advancing  their  claims  upon 
the  succession  of  Maria  Theresa,  and  were  preparing 
to  enforce  them.  Fleury  abandoned  his  efforts  to 
stem  the  current ;  propositions  for  an  alliance  came 

■^frora  Frederick,  and  they  were  favorably  received. 
The  cardinal  complained  bitterly  and  truthfully  to  the 
Austrian  ambassador  that  he  was  driven  to  take  a 
stop  of  which  he  disapproved,  and  that  his  position 
was  uncomfortable  and  miserable ;  but,  like  Walpole 
in  England  at  a  similar  crisis,  he  would  neither  resign 
nor  try  further  to  resist  popular  clamor.  The  ambas- 
sador reported  to  Maria  Theresa  that  the  French 
would  certainly  refuse  to  observe  the  conditions  of  the 
*  Mem.  de  Luynes,  iii.  2G6. 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     187 

treaty  of  1738.^  The  queen  wrote  herself  to  Fleury, 
imploring  him  to  be  faithful  to  his  agreements.  "  I 
wrote  the  cardinal,"  she  said  afterwards,  "  in  terms 
that  would  have  softened  a  rock."  Fleury  replied 
with  his  usual  urbanity,  but,  despite  his  honeyed 
words,  she  saw  that  she  could  expect  no  help  from 
France. 

The  French  might,  without  incurring  any  serious 
rej^roach,  have  continued  on  friendly  terms  with  the 
queen,  while  declining  to  involve  themselves  in  a  long 
and  expensive  war  to  repel  her  enemies.  When  asked 
to  furnish  troops  to  assist  in  reconquering  Silesia,  the 
minister  of  foreign  ajffairs  replied  that  the  guarantee 
of  France  was  based  upon  the  agreement  of  the  other 
powers,  and  she  could  not  be  expected  to  go  to  war  to 
enforce  the  good  faith  of  her  associates,  nor  had  there 
been  any  provision  as  to  what  aid  should  be  rendered, 
what  number  of  troops  should  be  put  in  the  field  to 
fight  the  battles  of  Maria  Theresa.^  If  the  French 
had  been  willing  to  engage  actively  in  her  behalf,  they 
could  fairly  have  imposed  terms  for  their  assistance, 
and  to  them  she  would  gladly  have  acceded.  Repeat- 
edly during  the  war  Maria  Theresa  offered  to  repay 
the  aid  of  France  by  ceding  additional  territory  to 
strengthen  her  eastern  boundary.  The  folly  by  which 
such  offers  were  declined,  and  the  blood  and  money 
of  the  country  wasted  without  chance  of  advantage,  is 
the  grievous  offense  of  which  French  statesmen  were 
guilty. 

1  Letter  of  Wasner  to  Maria  Theresa,  cited  in  Arneth,  Ge- 
schichte  Maria  Theresias,  a  most  valuable  book  from  the  Austrian 
standpoint,  as  is  Droysen's  Geschichte  des  Preussischen  Politiks 
for  the  Prussian  authorities. 

2  Dis.  Ven.,  232,  360,  conversation  of  Amelot  with  the  Vene- 
tian ambassador. 


188  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Instead  of  adopting  a  policy  which  would  have  been 
sagacious,  and  no  more  selfish  than  that  of  every  other 
Euroi)ean  power,  it  was  decided  to  exert  French  influ- 
ence in  opposition  to  Austria  in  the  coming  election  of 
an  emperor.  In  this  course  there  was  indeed  nothing 
contrary  to  treaty  obligations ;  the  French  had  never 
agreed  to  assist  the  husband  of  Maria  Theresa  in  his 
candidacy,  and  they  had  promised  to  assist  the  Elector 
of  Bavaria.  But  it  was  evident  that  France  could  not 
stop  there ;  to  aid  the  elector  in  his  endeavor  to  be 
chosen  emperor  necessarily  involved  an  effort  to  sus- 
tain his  claims  upon  the  hereditary  possessions  of  the 
House  of  Austria.  No  sooner  had  Belle  Isle  obtained 
Fleury's  reluctant  consent  to  use  the  influence  of 
France  in  the  election,  than  he  wrung  the  old  man's 
heart  by  showing  that  an  army  must  be  sent  into  Ger- 
many to  sustain  this  position.^  Frederick  disposed  of 
the  matter  with  his  usual  practical  sagacity :  "  The 
cardinal  is  sadly  deceived  if  he  thinks  he  can  succeed 
by  negotiations.  I  tell  you  it  is  the  strongest  who 
will  be  emperor."  ^ 

On  March  4,  1741,  Belle  Isle  left  Paris  as  repre- 
sentative of  France  to  the  electoral  college.  Even  in 
those  days,  rarely  did  an  ambassador  display  the  splen- 
dor with  which  Belle  Isle  dazzled  the  electors  and 
princes  whose  aid  he  sought.  He  had'  12  pages,  15 
secretaries,  and  50  lackeys ;  in  the  culinary  depart- 
ment there  were  over  100  servants,  for  Belle  Isle 
believed  he  could  make  converts  to  his  cause  by  fur- 
nishing them  unlimited  good  eating  and  good  drink- 
ing.    When  he  reached  Frankfort  there  were  covers 

»  MSS.  Mem.  de  BeUe  Isle,  i.  56. 

*  lb.,  i.  138  ;  conversation  between  Frederick  and  Belle  Isle. 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     189 

laid  each  day  at  his  table  for  80  or  100  guests,  and 
rarely  were  there  any  vacaiit  places.^ 

Such  magnificence  was  not  without  effect  on  the 
three  hundred  sovereigns  who  made  up  the  German 
empire,  many  of  whom  ruled  over  territories  not  ten 
leagues  square,  and  whose  revenues  for  a  year  were 
not  as  much  as  Belle  Isle  spent  in  a  month.  They 
admired  the  greatness  and  wealth  of  a  power  whose 
representative  could  indulge  in  a  display  far  beyond 
the  means  of  many. hereditary  rulers.  But  if  France 
was  admired  and  feared  in  Germany,  she  was  not 
loved.  For  a  century  she  had  exerted  a  great  influ- 
ence beyond  the  Rhine,  and  so  sagacious  had  been  the 
policy  of  Richelieu  and  Mazarin,  that  during  their 
administration  the  German  allies  were  for  the  most 
part  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  great  power  which 
extended  to  them  her  protection.  Under  Louis  XIV. 
this  was  no  longer  true.  Partly  by  his  religious  big- 
otry, still  more  by  his  overbearing  conduct,  and  by 
thciputrages  which  he  allowed  his  soldiers  to  commit, 
Louis  alienated  the  friends  of  France.  The  prince- 
lets,  who  tried  to  imitate  the  splendors  of  Versailles, 
bore  no  love  f&r  its  master.  This  feeling  of  sullen 
jealousy  and  irritation  continued  during  the  reign  of 
Louis  XV.  "  What  hurts  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  in 
the  mind  of  all  Germany,"  said  Frederick  to  the  French 
ambassador,  "  is  his  dependence  on  you."  The  lesser 
German  princes  resembled  the  king  of  Prussia  alike 
in  their  adoption  of  French  customs  and  their  dislike 
of  French  procedure.  They  spoke  the  French  lan- 
guage, they  read  French  books,  they  wore  French 
clothes,  and  they  hated  the  French  people. 

Notwithstanding  this,  Belle  Isle's  diplomatic  mis- 
1  Mem.  de  Luynes,  iii.  308,  436  ;  Belle  Isle,  iii.  250. 


190  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

sion  was  attended  with  success.  Three  of  the  electoral 
votes  belonged  to  the  archbishops  of  Cologne,  Mentz, 
and  Treves.  These  dignitaries  were  usually  younger 
sons  of  great  German  families,  who  devoted  their  at- 
tention to  the  pleasures  of  the  world,  and  to  avoiding 
the  hostility  of  more  powerful  neighbors.  If  they 
were  not  fond  of  France,  they  were  much  afraid  of 
her,  and  the  fortunes  of  Maria  Theresa  seemed  to 
them  involved  in  danger  and  uncertainty.  Belle  Isle 
in  turn  cajoled  and  threatened  these  timid  princes. 
"  You  have  sent  Belle  Isle  here  to  scold  me  like  a 
child,"  complained  the  Elector  of  Cologne,  but  he 
deemed  it  wise  to  follow  the  marshal's  counsels.  Prac- 
tical arguments  were  also  used  to  influence  the  decision 
of  the  electors.  They  were  generally  needy  and  corrupt, 
and  so  were  their  advisers,  and  Belle  Isle  purchased 
aU  who  were  worth  buying.  In  these  little  courts  some 
subordinate  official  often  held  the  confidence  of  the 
master,  and  was  not  to  be  overlooked  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  bribes.  At  Treves,  in  addition  to  money  for 
the  chancellor,  Belle  Isle  promised  a  good  abbey  to  the 
suffragan,  and  some  moderate  sums  to  the  confessor 
and  to  the  valet  de  chambre,  the  services  of  these  two 
officials  being  estimated  as  of  about  equal  value. 
"  There  will  be  a  little  to  give  the  confessor,"  wrote  the 
marshal, "  that  he  may  impress  upon  the  elector's  con- 
science the  evils  of  the  war  that  will  be  inevitable  if 
the  grand  duke  is  chosen  emperor."-  ^  Belle  Isle  was 
advised  not  to  offer  any  stated  sum  of  money  to  the 
chancellor,  such  was  the  delicacy  of  that  official's  feel- 
ings, so  he  promised  him  the  protection  of  the  French 
king  in  general  terms,  and  left  the  details  to  be  ar^ 
ranged  afterwards.'^ 

»  MSS.  Man.  de  Belle  Isle,  i.  64-67.  »  lb. 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     191 

AYitli  the  Elector  of  Mentz  the  procedure  was  more 
simple.  The  elector  was  under  the  control  of  his 
nephew,  and  to  the  nephew  Belle  Isle  offered  to  de- 
posit a  million  in  bank  as  soon  as  his  uncle  should 
sign  a  written  promise  to  vote  for  the  candidate  of 
France,  the  money  to  be  paid  over  when  the  vote  was 
given,  for  the  episcopal  agreement  was  not  regarded 
as  sufficient  to  justify  payment  before  it  was  carried 
into  effect.  No  modern  election  agent,  buying  votes 
at  the  polls,  proceeds  with  more  care  than  did  the 
French  ambassador,  and  there  was  as  much  need  of 
caution  with  archbishops  who  were  bought  for  a  mil- 
lion, as  there  is  with  the  riffraff  who  are  purchased 
for  a  dollar ;  the  bribes  were  larger,  and  good  faith 
was  correspondingly  weaker.  The  nephew  demanded 
of  Belle  Isle  absolute  secrecy  as  to  this  bargain.  "  I 
assured  him,"  writes  the  marshal,  "that  I  would  be 
more  secret  than  the  Austrian  representative  as  to 
the  hundred  thousand  florins  which  he  had  given." 
Tlie  nephew  protested  against  this  calumny,  but  ap- 
parently only  as  to  the  amount  received.  "  The  grand 
duke  was  not  as  liberal  as  that,"  he  said.^ 

The  fortunes  of  war  produced  a  more  disastrous 
effect  on  the  grand  duke's  candidacy  than  French 
money  or  Belle  Isle's  arguments.  The  Austrians  at 
last  gathered  an  army  in  Silesia,  and  on  April  10, 1741, 
the  battle  of  Mollwitz  was  fought.  The  Prussians 
were  successful,  although  Frederick  himself  abandoned 
the  field  as  lost  and  fled  to  Oppeln,  thirty-five  miles 
away.     The  news  of  his  success  reached  him  in  a  mill 

^  Mem.  de  Belle  Isle,  i.  92,  3.  These  memoirs  are  merely 
transcripts  of  the  letters  written  by  Belle  Isle  at  the  time,  and 
now  at  the  Affaires  Etrangeres.  The  former  Duke  of  Lorraine 
was  then  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany. 


192  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

near  Lowen,  in  which  he  had  sought  shelter;  he 
emerged,  declared  the  wits,  covered  with  flour  and 
glory.^  The  result  of  the  battle  showed  that  vigorous 
drill  and  discipline  had  made  the  Prussian  soldiers  the 
best  in  Europe.  They  were  as  firm  as  rocks  and  as 
brave  as  lions,  said  one  of  their  commanders,  and  the 
credit  of  this  first  great  victory  of  the  Prussian  arms 
should  be  given  to  Frederick  William.  However  eccen- 
tric his  character,  he  had  known  how  to  create  an  army, 
and  his  son  soon  proved  his  ability  to  command  it. 

The  king  had  delayed  making  any  alliance  with 
France  in  the  hope  that  the  English  could  persuade 
Maria  Theresa  to  cede  him  lower  Silesia,  but  the  queen 
of  Hungary  was  obstinate,  and  the  French  were  pliant, 
and  on  June  5,  1741,  a  treaty  between  France  and 
Prussia  was  signed.  The  advantage  was  all  on 
Frederick's  side.  Louis  agreed  to  send  an  army  to 
Germany ;  he  guaranteed  to  Prussia  the  possession  of 
lower  Silesia  and  Breslau,  and  all  that  he  got  in  return 
was  Frederick's  promise  to  vote  for  the  Elector  of 
Bavaria  as  emperor. 

This  alliance,  however,  rendered  the  choice  of  the 
elector  almost  certain ;  usually  the  candidate  of  Aus- 
tria had  received  every  electoral  vote,  now  it  seemed 
doubtful  if  he  could  obtain  one.  The  three  archbish- 
ops, Frederick,  as  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  and  the 
Elector  of  Saxony  were  already  practically  assured  to 

^  Frederick  was  advised  to  leave  the  field  in  order  to  escape 
danger.  The  rapidity  of  his  flight  shows  that  he  thought  the 
battle  was  lost.  Of  most  of  his  acts  he  speaks  in  his  memoirs 
with  entire  frankness,  but  he  makes  no  reference  to  this  flight. 
It  was  Schwerin  who  advised  Frederick  to  leave  the  field, 
and  he  declared  afterwards  that  the  king  never  forgave  him. 
For  the  battle  of  MoUwitz  see  Griinhagen,  Geschichte  des  ersten 
Schlesischen  Kriegs,  170-19G. 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     193 

the  French  candidate ;  a  successful  campaign  might 
gain  him  the  support  of  the  other  electors.  Belle  Isle 
wrote  exultingiy  to  Fleury,  "  You  will  have  the  glory 
of  having  abased  forever  the  rival  and  enemy  of 
France."  ^  But  the  old  minister  was  not  deceived ;  he 
saw  how  little  France  could  really  gain  from  the  pol- 
icy which  he  allowed  to  be  j)ursued  ;  above  all,  almost 
alone  among  his  associates,  he  put  no  faith  in  Freder- 
ick. The  king  did  not  spare  fair  words.  "  I  promise 
you,  you  shall  have  no  complaints  on  your  side,"  he 
wrote,  "  and  no  reason  to  repent  of  your  alliance.  If 
I  have  asked  time  to  decide,  this  delay  will  only  serve 
to  render  my  fidelity  more  inviolable."  ^  But  Fleury 
wrote  to  Belle  Isle,  "  The  king  of  Prussia  disturbs  me 
more  than  any  one  else.  Good  faith  and  sincerity  are 
not  his  favorite  virtues  ;  he  is  false  in  everything,  even 
in  his  compliments.  I  doubt  if  he  will  be  faithful  in, 
his  alliances,  for  he  has  no  principle  but  his  own  in- 
terest." ^  The  correctness  of  Fleury's  judgment  was 
soon  shown ;  in  less  than  eight  months  from  the  time 
Frederick  signed  the  treaty  with  France,  he  had  made 
a  secret  bargain  with  Austria  and  left  his  allies  to 
carry  on  the  contest  as  best  they  could. 

It  is  now  time  to  follow  the  career  of  the  Elector 
of  Bavaria,  in  whose  behalf  France  had  taken  up 
arms.  We  shall  find  in  him  the  exact  reverse  of  Fred- 
erick's qualities,  —  perfect  good  faith  and  an  entire 
lack  of  ability.  Charles  Albert  succeeded  to  his  father 
as  Elector  of  Bavaria  in  1726,  and  was  now  a  man 
forty-three  years  of  age.     He  was  amiable  in  charac- 

1  Belle  Isle  to  Fleury,  June  6,  1741. 

2  Pol.  Cor.,  i.  251,  252,  Frederick  to  Fleury  and  Belle  Isle. 
May  30,  1741. 

8  Fleury  to  Belle  Isle,  June  17,  1741. 


194  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

ter,  infirm  in  purpose,  with  a  weakness  for  pomp  and 
a  taste  for  titles ;  he  might  have  passed  his  life  in 
happy  insignificance  in  his  electorate,  but  unwise  am- 
bition brought  him  to  an  early  grave  with  a  broken 
heart.  He  had  married  a  daughter  of  the  Emperor 
Joseph,  an  older  brother  ol  Charles  VI. ;  on  her 
marriage  the  electress  renounced  her  claim -on  the 
Austrian  succession,  and  this  renunciation  her  hus- 
band never  sought  to  evade.  But  the  elector  was 
himself  a  descendant  of  the  daughter  of  the  Emperor 
Ferdinand  I.,  and  the  rights  thus  inherited  he  de- 
clared no  Pragmatic  Sanction  could  take  away.  His 
pretensions  do  not  seem  to  have  been  well  founded. 
The  possessions  of  the  House  of  Austria  had  been 
transmitted  in  the  male  line  for  almost  two  centuries 
since  the  death  of  Ferdiaand,  and  when  a  male  heir 
at  last  failed,  the  rights  of  the  daughter  of  Charles 
VI.  were  better  founded  than  those  which  were  derived 
from  a  daughter  of  Ferdinand.  But  with  the  preten- 
sions of  Charles  Albert,  as  with  those  of  Frederick  II., 
it  was  not  a  question  of  right  but  of  might.  The 
elector  had  repudiated  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  in  the 
lifetime  of  the  emperor ;  he  now  hoped  to  enforce  his 
claims  on  the  hereditaiy  possessions  of  Charles  VI., 
and,  to  gratify  an  ambition  still  dearer  to  his  vanity, 
to  wear  the  crown  of  Charlemagne  and  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire.  When  the  news  of  the  emperor's 
death  reached  Munich,  the  elector  felt  that  for  him 
the  hour  of  fate  had  sounded,  and  assurances  of  French 
support  gave  an  air  of  reality  to  what  had  seemed 
only  ambitious  dreams.  The  alliance  between  France 
and  Prussia  soon  followed,  and  in  August,  1741,  the 
French  crossed  the  Rhine.  A  French  army  was  rarely 
welcome  on  German  soil ;  but  Fleury  endeavored  to 


WAR  OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     195 

arouse  as  little  ill  will  as  possible.  Perfect  discipline 
was  maintained ;  supplies  were  promptly  paid  for, 
a  thing  so  rare  that  it  excited  surprise  as  well  as 
pleasure  ;  ^  war  was  not  declared  against  Austria ;  the 
troops,  Fleury  said,  came  only  to  protect  their  ally, 
the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  against  his  enemies.  The 
elector  had  already  invaded  Austria  at  the  head  of 
about  twenty  thousand  Bavarians.  He  met  with  little 
resistance ;  the  Austrians  had  no  army  in  the  field, 
and  the  people  were  not  averse  to  Charles  Albert  as 
a  ruler ;  Maria  Theresa  had  as  yet  done  nothing  to 
excite  the  enthusiasm  of  her  subjects,  her  husband's 
manners  were  chilly,  his  capacity  was  small,  and  he 
was  not  popular.2  In  September  the  French  joined 
the  elector,  and  the  united  forces,  consisting  of  about 
sixty  thousand  men,  were  put  under  his  command. 

They  could  not  have  had  a  more  indifferent  leader. 
C  harles  Albert  had  no  talent  for  war :  he  was  timid, 
slow,  and  irresolute.  "  During  two  months,"  wrote 
Belle  Isle,  "  the  elector  was  never  of  the  same  mind 
for  two  days  in  succession."  ^  The  marshal  was  him- 
self the  nominal  commander  of  the  French  armies  in 
Germany,  but,  with  mistaken  judgment,  he  thought 
it  wise  to  watch  the  intrigues  of  the  electoral  college 
in  person  and  to  command  the  army  by  correspond- 
ence. There  was  delay  in  obtaining  his  orders,  and 
between  the  presence  of  the  elector  and  the  absence 
of  Belle  Isle,  the  conduct  of  the  campaign  was  irreso- 
lute and  inefficient. 

At  first,  however,  all  went  well.  The  elector  sum- 
moned the   citizens  of   Linz,   the  capital   of   Upper 

1  Maurice  de  Saxe  to  Belle  Isle,  August  23,  1741. 

2  Tagebudi,  19  et  pas. ;  Letters  of  Vincent ;  Cor.  de  Vienne. 
8  Belle  Isle  to  Brctuuil,  October  21,  1741. 


196  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Austria,  to  receive  him  as  their  lawful  sovereign.  No 
opposition  was  offered  ;  he  entered  the  city  in  triiunph ; 
in  a  few  days  the  whole  province  was  overrun,  and 
the  allied  armies  were  within  three  days'  march  of 
Vienna.  That  capital  was  almost  defenseless,  and  it 
was  expected  that  the  enemy  would  at  once  advance 
upon  it;  many  fled  from  the  city,  while  others  pre- 
pared for  a  siege  as  best  they  could,  but  against  an 
army  of  sixty  thousand  men  no  long  resistance  was 
possible.  Frederick  wrote  the  elector  urging  him  to 
attack  his  enemies  while  they  were  weak,  and  to  march 
directly  on  Vienna.  "  March  to  the  capital,"  he  said ; 
"you  cut  the  root  of  the  Austrian  tree,  and  its  fall 
must  follow."  1  It  seemed  as  if  the  prophets  were 
right,  that  the  overthrow  of  the  House  of  Austria 
would  soon  be  accomplished,  and  its  capital  in  the 
hands  of  a  French  army.  But  the  courage  of  Maria 
Theresa  and  the  inefficiency  of  Charles  Albert  saved 
Austria  from  ruin.  The  elector  was  afraid  to  advance 
to  Vienna ;  he  was  haunted  by  imaginary  fears  that  the 
Austrians  would  invade  Bavaria,  and  he  preferred 
undertaking  the  conquest  of  Bohemia,  of  which  he 
claimed  to  be  the  lawful  sovereign.^  Meanwhile  he 
amused  himself  with  numerous  pageants,  and  in  receiv- 
ing the  allegiance  of  his  new  subjects ;  after  wasting 

^  Pol.  Car.,  i.  266;  Frederick  to  elector,  June  30,  1741.  Vol- 
taire made  the  charge  that  the  failure  to  advance  on  Vienna 
was  due  to  Fleury,  and  this  calumny  has  been  often  repeated. 
The  accusation  is  utterly  without  foundation,  as  has  been  shown 
conclusively  by  the  Due  de  Broglie.  Belle  Isle  as  well_  as  the 
•lector  disapproved  of  the  plan.  "  I  have  always  opposed  the 
king's  desire  for  an  advance  on  Vienna,"  Belle  Isle  writes  the 
elector,  October  23,  1741. 

2  Tagehuch  Karl's  VII.,  23  ;  Belle  lale  to  Amelot,  August  25, 
October  4, 1741. 


WAR  OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION     197 

most  of  September,  the  allied  armies  began  their 
march  to  Bohemia,  and  the  moment  of  greatest  peril 
for  Maria  Theresa  was  past. 

In  the  mean  time,  she  had  been  occupied  with  ex- 
citing the  enthusiasm  of  her  own  subjects  and  in 
seeking  to  divide  her  enemies,  and  in  both  she  was 
successful.  In  June,  1741,  she  was  solemnly  crowned 
at  Presburg  as  queen  of  Hungary,  and  she  appealed 
to  the  patriotism  and  to  the  courage  of  the  warlike 
people  of  that  country ;  inspired  by  the  heroism  of 
their  young  ruler,  they  promised  to  send  to  the  field 
every  man  able  to  bear  arms. 

The  queen  of  Hungary  was  well  fitted  to  arouse  the 
enthusiasm  of  an  heroic  people,  for  she  could  appeal 
to  feelings  which  she  herself  shared  ;  but  it  was  a  diffi- 
cult and  a  painful  task  for  her  to  sue  for  peace  from 
those  who  had  plotted  her  ruin.  When  Frederick 
first  invaded  Silesia  the  English  advised  the  queen  to 
sacrifice  her  resentment,  and  obtain  peace  on  the  terms 
he  demanded  ;  she  then  replied  that  she  would  discuss 
no  terms  while  a  Prussian  soldier  remained  on  Sile- 
sian  soil ;  ^  but  now  Vienna  was  in  danger  of  capture, 
Bavaria  and  Saxony  had  agreed  upon  a  division  of 
her  dominions,  which  left  her  little  more  than  the 
kingdom  of  Hungary,  and  it  seemed  not  impossible 
that  this  alone  would  remain  to  her  of  the  great  pos- 
sessions of  the  House  of  Hapsburg.  If  she  must  pro- 
pitiate any  of  her  enemies,  Maria  Theresa  preferred 
to  deal  with  France.  Frederick  had  begun  the  attack, 
and  the  loss  of  Silesia  exposed  her  other  territories  to 
invasion.     She  regarded  her  neighbor  as  an  infidel,  a 

^  This  was  said  by  the  grand  duke  to  the  Prussian  envoy, 
letter  of  Robinson,  December  21,  1740,  published  by  Raumer, 
but  Maria  Teresa  inspired  the  answer. 


198  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

liar,  and  a  robber,  and  was  unwilling  to  cede  to  him 
a  foot  of  land.  Overtures,  however,  were  made  both 
to  France  and  to  Prussia.  The  queen  offered  to  cede 
Luxembourg  to  the  French,  the  Low  Countries  to  the 
Elector  of  Bavaria,  and  possessions  in  Italy  to  Spain, 
if  she  could  obtain  peace.^  If  the  French  had  been 
willing  to  leave  their  ally  in  the  lurch,  they  could 
have  made  peace  with  Austria,  and  obtained  a  valu- 
able acquisition  of  territory.  But  they  refused  even 
to  discuss  terms  except  in  connection  with  Frederick. 
"  We  are  not  free,"  Fleury  wrote ;  "  we  can  enter  into 
no  negotiations  except  with  our  allies." 

The  envoys  for  peace  met  with  a  very  different 
reception  from  Frederick.  Various  endeavors  had 
already  been  made  to  detach  him  from  the  alliance, 
but  the  terms  offered  were  not  such  as  he  desired ;  he 
was  resolved  to  have  lower  Silesia  and  Breslau,  and 
would  abate  nothing  in  his  demands.  So  long  as  the 
offers  were  unsatisfactory,  Frederick  declared  with 
vehemence  that  he  woidd  not  desert  his  allies.^  "  Tell 
Valori,"  he  wrote  Podewils  in  August,  "  that  nothing 
in  the  world  can  draw  me  from  my  alliance  with 
France."  ^ 

"  My  engagements  are  so  solemn,  so  indissoluble,  and 
so  inviolable,"  he  told  the  English  negotiator,  "  that  I 
will  not  desert  these  faitliful  allies."  *  "  It  would  be 
infamous  for  me  to  enter  into  negotiations  with  Aus- 

'  Instruktion  Jtir  Koch,  September  1,  1741,  cited  by  Arneth, 
Cor.  de  Vienne,  September,  1741,  Aff.  Etr. 

^  See  terms  offered  by  Rubinsun,  August  7,  1741,  Pol.  Cor.,  L 
297,  and  Frederick's  response. 

3  Pol.  Cor.,  i.  321.  "  Nichts  in  der  Welt  fJihig  mich  von 
meiner  Allianz  niit  Frankreich  abzufiibren." 

*  Pol.  Cor.,  i.  333,  ;W4,  Frederick  to  Ilyndford,  September 
14, 1741,  camp  before  Neisse. 


WAR  OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     199 

tria  and  England."  ^  This  was  on  September  14.  A 
few  days  later,  Maria  Theresa  at  last  decided  that  she 
must  accede  to  Frederick's  demands,  cede  lower  Silesia, 
and  demand  only  neutrality  in  return,  and  she  author- 
ized the  British  envoy  to  make  that  offer.  It  was 
accepted  at  once.  The  "  faithful  allies  "  were  neither 
considered  nor  consulted  when  an  acceptable  proposi- 
tion was  made.  By  the  last  of  September  terms  had 
been  agreed  upon ;  a  cartel  was  signed  in  October, 
providing  that  lower  Silesia  and  Neisse  should  be 
ceded  to  Prussia  when  peace  was  made ;  in  return  for 
this,  Frederick  agreed  that  he  would  preserve  a  strict 
neutrality,  and  that  the  Austrian  army  in  Silesia 
might  retire  undisturbed,  and  hasten  to  the  defense  of 
5ohemia.^  Frederick  was  then  besieging  Neisse,  and 
to  deceive  his  allies  it  was  agreed  that  a  mock  siege 
should  be  continued  for  fifteen  days,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  the  town  was  to  surrender.  He  demanded 
also  that  his  troops  should  go  into  winter  quarters  in 
upper  Silesia.  This  remained  Austrian  territory,  and 
the  English  envoy  protested  in  amazement  against  a 
procedure  which  could  only  be  justified  if  the  parties 
continued  at  war.  "  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you," 
Frederick's  minister  wrote, "  that  we  desire  very  much 
to  cease  carrying  on  war,  but  we  do  not  wish  to  ap- 
pear to  have  ceased  carrying  it  on."  ^  The  demand 
was  acceded  to,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  armistice 
should  be  kept  secret. 

Having  secured  what  he  desired  for  himself,  Fred- 
erick showed  that  he  was  free  from  any  prejudice  in 

1  Frederick  to  Hyndford. 

^  See  mem.  to  Hyndford,  September  28  ;  Pol.  Cor.,  i.  356, 
September  30,  359  ;  Protokol,  October  9,  371,  372. 
3  To  Hyndford,  September  30,  Pol.  Cor.,  359. 


200  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV.      ' 

lavor  of  his  nominal  allies,  or  against  his  nominal 
enemies.  Marshal  Neipperg,  the  Austrian  commander, 
paid  a  visit  to  the  king.  Frederick  gave  him  judi- 
cious advice  as  to  the  campaign  against  his  French  and 
Bavarian  allies,  and  assured  him  that  if  the  armies  of 
the  queen  of  Hungary  were  fortunate,  he  might  soon 
be  found  on  her  side.^ 

It  was  impossible  that  the  existence  of  such  an 
armistice  should  not  be  suspected,  but  Frederick 
spared  no  pains  to  convince  his  allies  that  he  con- 
tinued faithful.  On  the  day  that  he  advised  with 
Neipperg  as  to  the  best  way  to  beat  the  Bavarians 
and  French,  he  wrote  Belle  Isle  praising  the  zeal  with 
which  France  was  assisting  Bavaria.  "  It  is  reserved 
to  Louis  XV.  to  be  the  arbiter  of  kings,  and  to  M. 
de  Belle  Isle  to  be  the  instrument  of  his  power  and 
wisdom,"  he  added.^  The  claws  were  hardly  con- 
cealed in  Frederick's  caresses,  and  his  compliments 
were  most  extravagant  when  he  was  acting  in  bad 
Faith. 

He  continued  to  keep  the  allies  fully  advised  as  to 
the  progress  of  the  mock  siege  of  Neisse.  He  in- 
formed the  elector  and  Belle  Isle  that  he  found  the 
siege  more  difficult  than  he  expected.^  "  I  have  so 
alarmed  Neipperg,"  he  wrote  Fleury,  "that  he  is 
marching  night  and  day  to  gain  the  gorges  of  Jagern- 
dorf.  ...  I  could  not  pursue  him  for  lack  of  provi- 
sions."* At  last  he  was  able  to  report  the  capture  of 
the  city.     "  The  bombs  have  done  a  terrible  amount 

*  Dispatch  of  Hyndford,  October  14,  1741,  published  in 
Raumcr,  Beitrdge,  ii.  149,  150. 

2  Frederick  to  Belle  Isle,  October  9,  1741. 

*  Pol.  Cor.,  i.  377,  383. 

*  lb.,  392,  Frederick  to  Fleury,  October  29,  1741. 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     201 

of  damage,"  he  informed  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  and 
in  the  same  letter  he  added,  "  I  can  assure  you  on  my 
honor  that  I  have  made  no  peace  with  the  Austrians, 
and  I  will  not  until  you  ai*e  satisfied."  ^  "  We  must 
render  justice  to  the  king  of  Prussia,"  wrote  the 
simple-minded  elector ;  "  no  one  could  act  with  more 
frankness  and  good  faith."  ^  On  the  1st  of  Novem- 
ber, three  weeks  after  the  convention  of  Kleinschnel- 
lendorf,  Frederick  signed  a  further  treaty  with  his 
nominal  allies,  in  which  they  agreed  on  the  distribu- 
tion to  be  made  of  a  large  portion  of  the  inheritance 
of  Maria  Theresa. 

While  Frederick  was  occupied  in  making  his  own 
peace,  and  in  lying  with  a  vigor  that  was  unusual 
even  for  him,  the  elector  had  marched  into  Bohemia, 
and  by  November  his  forces,  now  strengthened  by  a 
Saxon  contingent,  were  before  the  walls  of  Prague. 
But  the  allies  could  no  longer  occupy  the  possessions 
of  Maria  Theresa  without  meeting  serious  opposition ; 
the  Hungarians  were  hastening  to  her  rescue,  and  the 
army  under  Neipperg,  released  from  Silesia  by  the 
armistice  with  Frederick,  was  free  to  oppose  the  fur- 
ther advance  of  the  elector.  It  seemed  probable  that 
the  invaders  would  be  obliged  to  retreat  from  Prague, 
but  the  city  was  captured  by  a  daring  assault  led  by 
Maurice  de  Saxe,  who  now  began  to  show  himself  one 
of  the  great  generals  of  the  age.  Maurice  conceived 
the  idea  of  scaling  the  walls  with  a  small  body  of 
men,  while  the  attention  of  the  garrison  was  diverted 
by  false  attacks.  The  plan  was  proposed  before  a 
council  of  war,  which  at  first  decided  that  it  was  ab- 

1  Pol.  Cor.,  398,  Frederick  to  elector,  November  2,  1741. 

2  Elector  to  Belle  Isle,  October  9,  1741,  Cor.  de  Bav. 


202  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

surd  and  impossible.^  But  the  forces  of  the  qneen 
of  Hungary  were  hastening  to  the  rescue  of  the  city, 
and  it  was  finally  resolved  to  allow  Maurice  to  make 
his  experiment.  At  a  little  after  twelve,  in  the 
darkness  of  a  November  night,  ladders  were  placed 
against  the  walls  at  an  unguarded  spot,  and  up  them 
the  soldiers  scrambled.  The  ladders  were  so  short 
that  they  had  to  be  tied  together  to  reach  the  top, 
and  some  of  them  broke  under  the  weight  of  the  men. 
But  a  small  body  of  soldiers  succeeded  in  scaling  the 
wall,  overpowered  the  guards,  threw  open  the  gate, 
and  let  down  the  drawbridge ;  Maurice  entered  in 
triumph,  and  made  himself  master  of  the  city  before 
the  garrison  knew  what  had  happened.^  "  You  de- 
sired Prague  should  be  taken,"  he  wrote  Belle  Isle, 
in  French  as  incorrect  as  it  was  spirited ;  "  it  is  taken, 
the  governor  has  surrendered  to  me,  and  I  write  from 
his  chamber."^ 

Though  the  city  was  taken  by  assault,  there  was  no 
disorder  and  no  plundering.  According  to  a  popular 
tradition,  some  ladies  returning  from  a  ball  were  met 

'  The  elector  in  his  Tagehuch,  30,  2,  3,  claims  to  have  devised 
this  scheme  himself,  and  Maurice  figures  very  little  in  his  ac- 
count. Instead  of  wasting  praise  on  Maurice  he  writes,  "  We 
cannot  douht  that  the  Holy  Virgin  fortified  me  in  this  design 
and  assisted  me  in  the  execution,"  p.  33.  In  a  letter  to  Maurice 
of  April  24,  1742,  he  says,  however,  "I  already  owe  you  the 
capture  of  Prague." 

*  An  account  of  the  capture  of  Prague  is  given  in  a  letter 
written  by  Maurice  and  published  by  Taillendier.  The  official 
accounts  are  in  the  archives.  A  letter  of  the  Duke  of  Chev- 
reuse,  who  took  part  in  the  assault,  is  found  in  Mem.  de  Lnynes, 
iv. 

'  Maurice  de  Saxe  to  Belle  Isle,  November  26, 1741.  In  an 
age  of  bad  spoiling,  Maurice,  of  all  writers  whose  letters  have 
been  preserved,  spelled  the  worst 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     203 

by  French  officers  and  politely  escorted  to  their  homes ; 
many  of  the  citizens  only  discovered  in  the  morning 
that  the  town  had  been  captured.  Military  license  was 
so  common  at  this  period  that  the  fact  that  no  rioting 
or  pillage  followed  the  capture  of  the  city,  that  houses 
were  not  burned,  women  were  not  violated,  and  citi- 
zens were  not  murdered,  excited  almost  as  much  sur- 
prise in  Europe  as  the  manner  in  which  it  had  been 
taken.  On  the  following  day  the  elector  entered  the 
city  and  proceeded  at  once  to  the  cathedral,  where  the 
Te  Deum  was  sung ;  the  booming  of  distant  cannon 
mingled  with  the  voices  of  the  choristers  as  they  ren- 
dered thanks  for  the  victory.^ 

The  loss  of  this  important  town  was  a  severe  blow 
to  the  Austrian  cause.  The  elector  at  once  assumed 
to  act  as  the  lawful  sovereign  of  Bohemia;  on  the 
19th  of  December  the  states  met  at  Prague  and 
recognized  Charles  Albert  as  their  king.  The  states 
were  largely  attended,  and  his  new  subjects  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance  with  apparent  zeal.  Many,  indeed, 
remained  constant  to  the  cause  of  Maria  Theresa,  but 
the  majority  of  the  Bohemians  had  no  deep  affection 
for  the  House  of  Austria,  and  cared  little  whether  the 
queen  of  Hungary  or  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  was  to 
be  their  ruler.^ 

Other  results  of  the  capture  of  Prague  were  equally 
unfortunate  for  Maria  Theresa.  Frederick  had  told 
Marshal  Neipperg  that  if  good  fortune  attended  the 
arms  of  his  mistress  he  might  soon  be  found  on  her 
side.  She  had  met  with  calamity  instead  of  victory, 
and  the  king  now  decided  that  it  would  be  for  his 
interest  again  to  throw  in  his  lot  with  her  enemies. 

1  Tagebuch  Karl's  VII. 

2  lb.,  36;  Arneth,  i.  344. 


204  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Lord  Hyndford  had  negotiated  the  armistice  in  Octo- 
ber, and  in  December  he  visited  Frederick  in  order 
to  carry  out  the  prior  agreement  and  convert  the  ar- 
mistice into  a  permanent  treaty.  He  soon  found  that 
the  king  had  no  thought  of  abiding  by  the  bargain 
of  October.  "I  will  speak  frankly  with  you,"  said 
Frederick ;  "  the  Austrians  have  let  Prague  be  taken 
under  their  noses,  without  risking  a  battle.  If  they 
had  been  fortunate,  I  don't  know  what  I  should  have 
done.  Now  we  have  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
men  to  their  seventy  thousand ;  they  may  make  peace 
as  best  they  can."  ^ 

For  this  breach  of  his  agreement  the  Prussian  king 
alleged  that  he  had  a  justification :  he  had  insisted 
that  the  armistice  of  October  should  be  kept  secret ; 
this  had  not  been  done,  and  hence  he  was  no  longer 
bound.  It  was  impossible  that  it  would  remain  secret ; 
the  peaceful  retreat  of  Neipperg  had  convinced  all 
Europe  that  some  arrangement  had  been  made  be- 
tween Frederick  and  Maria  Theresa ;  when  the  exist- 
ence of  the  armistice  was  known  to  innumerable  diplo- 
mats and  officers,  both  Austrian  and  English,  some  of 
them  were  sure  to  make  it  public.  The  Austrian 
historians  charged  Frederick  with  consenting  to  the 
protocol  in  order  to  obtain  a  respite  for  his  soldiers, 
and  imposing  an  impossible  condition  of  secrecy  as 
a  pretext  for  its  violation  when  he  should  again  be 
ready  for  hostilities.  This  accusation  is  probably  un- 
just. Frederick  agreed  to  the  armistice,  not  with  any 
fixed  purpose  of  violating  it,  but  with  the  intention 
of  keeping  it  or  not  as  his  interests  should  require. 
After  the  capture  of  Prague  he  decided  that  it  would 

*  Report  of  Hyndford,  published  by  Raomer,  Beitrage  zur 
neueren  Geschichte,  ii.  153-155. 


WAR   OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  SUCCESSION.     205 

not  be  to  liis  advantage  to  make  peace  at  present. 
"  Trickery,  bad  faith,  and  duplicity  are  unfortunately 
the  characteristics  of  most  men  who  are  now  at  the 
head  of  nations,"  Frederick  wrote  sadly  to  Voltaire, 
after  he  had  a  second  time  tanen  up  arms  against 
Maria  Theresa.^ 

1  Frederick  to  Voltaire,  February  3, 17^. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES  VII. 

As  a  result  of  the  capture  of  Prague  the  Elector  of 
y/Bavaria  was  declared  king  of  Bohemia,  and  this  vic- 
tory secured  him  a  crown  which  he  coveted  still  more. 
Several  months  had  passed  since  the  members  of  the 
electoral  college  began  to  assemble  at  Frankfort  for 
the  election  of  a  new  emperor,  but  the  body  proceeded 
with  the  deliberation  which  befitted  its  dignity,  and 
questions  of  etiquette  and  procedure  were  discussed  at 
infinite  length.  The  electors  had  one  matter  of  real 
importance  to  consider,  and  that  was  the  vote  of 
Bohemia.  The  king  of  Bohemia  was  entitled  to  one 
of  the  nine  electoral  votes ;  but  this  privilege,  it  was 
held,  could  not  be  exercised  by  a  woman,  and  Maria 
Theresa  sought  to  transfer  her  right  to  her  husband. 
Not  only  was  the  legality  of  this  questioned,  but  the 
Elector  of  Bavaria  claimed  that  he  was  now  the  law- 
ful ruler  of  that  country,  and  he  had  justified  his  title 
by  capturing  the  capital  of  the  kingdom ;  in  such  a 
complication  as  this  the  electors  resolved  that  the  vote 
of  Bohemia  must  be  regarded  as  in  abeyance,  and 
coidd  not  be  received  at  all. 

Months  passed  away,  and  Belle  Isle  tried  in  vain 
to  hasten  an  election,  which  he  felt  sure  would  result 
in  favor  of  the  candidate  of  France.  •  It  was  Novem- 
ber before  the  college  formally  convened,  and  even 
then  its  members  were  in  no  haste  to  reach  a  decision. 
In  truth,  the  choice  of  an  emperor  was  not  to  be 


THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES   VII.  207 

decided  at  the  conferences  of  the  electors,  but  on 
the  field  of  battle;  as  Frederick  had  said,  the  impe- 
rial crown  would  go  to  the  strongest.  The  capture 
of  Prague  settled  the  question;  even  the  stanchest 
friends  of  Maria  Theresa  were  convinced  that  her 
cause  was  lost;  the  House  of  Austria,  said  one  of  the 
most  sagacious  of  German  princes,  had  been  stricken 
by  the  hand  of  God,  and  was  doomed  to  ruin.^  There 
was  no  pretext  for  further  delay;  the  24th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1742,  was  fixed  as  the  date  of  the  election,  and 
there  could  now  be  no  doubt  of  its  result. 

But  the  situation  might  change,  and  the  friends  of 
Bavaria  were  earnest  that  there  should  be  no  postpone- 
ment. It  was  in  vain  that  the  partisans  of  Maria  The- 
resa declared  that  a  few  months  would  alter  the  position 
of  affairs,  and  that  any  proceedings  taken  now  would 
be  plainly  invalid,  alike  because  the  vote  of  Bohemia 
was  illegally  excluded,  and  because  there  could  be  no 
free  and  fair  election  while  foreign  armies  were  in  the 
heart  of  the  empire ;  the  influence  of  France  was  pre- 
dominant, and  such  protests  were  disregarded. 

The  danger  of  delay  was  not  entirely  averted,  for 
only  a  few  days  before  the  time  fixed  for  the  election, 
a  fierce  controversy  arose  over  the  manner  in  which 
the  electors'  chairs  should  be  placed  in  the  church, 
and  the  order  in  which  those  dignitaries  should  march 
at  the  coronation.2  So  bitter  was  the  dispute  that 
it  bade  fair  to  cause  a  postponement,  but  by  dint  of 
unceasing  effort  Belle  Isle  soothed  the  susceptibili- 
ties of  these  punctilious  sovereigns,  and  it  was  at  last 
certain  that  on  the  24th  an  emperor  would  be  chosen. 

^  Conversation  with  the  Bishop  of  Wiirzburg  given  by  Belle 
Isle,  MSS.  Mem.,  iii.  215. 
2  lb.,  iii.  232. 


208  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

If  the  action  of  the  electoral  college  was  really 
under  constraint,  the  forms  were  carefully  observed 
which  the  law  declared  necessary  for  a  free  choice. 
French  armies  were  within  the  confines  of  the  em- 
pire; three  of  the  electors  were  waging  war  against 
one  of  the  candidates,  but  no  physical  violence  threat- 
ened the  members  of  the  college  as  they  met  to  de- 
liberate in  the  chamber  of  the  Romer,  or  to  cast 
their  votes  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Bartholomew.  On 
January  23,  trumpeters  warned  all  strangers  to  leave 
the  city,  that  the  election  on  the  following  day  might 
be  free  from  foreign  influence.  Belle  Isle  and  the 
other  ambassadors  accordingly  retired  beyond  the 
walls ;  the  gates  were  locked ;  the  Jews  were  confined 
in  their  quarter;  the  officials  took  a  solemn  oath  to 
preserve  order. 

On  the  following  day  the  eight  electors,  or  their 
representatives,  met  in  the  church  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew to  cast  their  votes  for  Emperor  of  the  Holy  Ro- 
man Empire.  The  election  was  unanimous.  Bran- 
denburg, Saxony,  and  Bavaria  were  united  in  arras 
against  Austria ;  the  three  ecclesiastical  electors  and 
the  Palatine  had  joined  the  stronger  party;  even 
George  II.  of  England  had  agreed  to  desert  the  inter- 
ests of  Maria  Theresa,  in  order  to  save  Hanover  from 
invasion  by  the  French.  At  noon,  amid  the  firing  of 
cannon  and  the  ringing  of  bells,  heralds  appeared  on 
the  walls  of  the  city  and  proclaimed  to  the  world 
without  that  Charles,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  had  been 
duly  chosen  king  of  the  Romans.  As  the  electors 
came  from  the  church,  the  grand  marshal  of  the  em- 
pire was  at  once  dispatched  to  notify  Charles  of  the 
result;  he  rode  in  hot  haste,  accompanied  by  twenty- 
four  postilions;  just  before  midnight  he  reached  the 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES    VII.  209 

elector  and  greeted  him  with  his  new  title  as  king  of 
the  Romans.  1 

Charles  kept  a  diary,  in  which  he  recorded  his 
joys,  his  griefs,  and  his  vanities  with  the  frankness 
of  Pepys,  and  by  the  aid  of  this  we  can  follow  the 
career  of  this  weak,  honorable,  and  most  unfortunate 
prince.  The  announcement  of  his  elevation  filled  the 
vainglorious  elector  with  joy;  a  week  later  he  made 
his  entry  into  Frankfort  with  a  magnificence  which 
he  tells  us  had  never  been  equaled.^ 

Charles  had  a  strong  taste  for  display,  which  unfor- 
tunately did  not  correspond  with  the  low  condition  of 
his  finances,  and  the  French  envoy  tried  in  vain  to 
prevent  him  from  squandering  all  his  ready  money  on 
the  pageantry  of  his  coronation. 

On  the  12th  of  February,  1742,  he  was  crowned 
with  all  the  splendor  which  he  could  desire.  "The 
preparations  for  the  great  ceremony,"  he  writes,  "were 
more  than  magnificent ;  one  saw  in  them  the  grandeur 
of  a  Roman  emperor."^  Sixty  princes  of  the  em- 
pire assisted  at  the  ceremony,  and  the  most  illustrious 
nobles  paid  their  homage.  Mounted  on  his  horse, 
Charles  proceeded  through  the  streets  of  Frankfort; 
the  ensigns  of  the  empire  were  carried  before  him, 
accompanied  by  the  officials  of  the  city;  the  electors 
followed  on  horseback,  gorgeous  in  their  scarlet  man- 
tles trimmed  with  ermine,  with  cloaks  that  seemed 
made  of  gold,  and  hats  of  an  antique  fashion  sur- 
mounted by  plumes  of  extraordinary  size;  it  seemed 
as  if  the  splendor  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  returned  to 
earth ;  the  long  procession  of  nobles  and  officials,  clad 

1  For  this  see  letters  of  Belle  Isle  to  Aiuclot. 

2  Tagebuch  Karl's  VII.,  49. 
8  lb.,  51. 


210  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

in  all  the  gorgeousness  of  the  past,  continued  until 
the  eye  was  wearied  with  a  surfeit  of  color. 

When  they  reached  the  cathedral,  Charles  was  met 
at  the  door  by  the  ecclesiastical  electors;  he  was 
clothed  in  the  imperial  dress,  which,  he  teUs  us  with 
satisfaction,  fitted  him  as  if  it  had  been  made  for 
him.i  His  brother,  the  Elector  of  Cologne,  placed  the 
crown  on  his  head,  and  he  was  seated  upon  the  throne 
amid  the  acclamations  of  a  great  multitude  crying, 
"Long  live  Charles  the  Seventh. "^  "The  eyes  of  all 
the  world  were  turned  upon  me,"  writes  Charles.  "I 
had  to  sustain  the  greatness  of  the  dignity  with  which 
I  was  invested,  and  also  the  length  of  the  ceremony 
and  the  pains  of  gravel  from  which  I  was  suffering. 
It  was  in  these  moments  of  grandeur  that  I  perceived 
I  was  only  a  frail  man.  Seeing  myself  thus  at  the 
supreme  degree  of  human  greatness,  I  could  but  re- 
flect on  the  might  of  God,  who  does  not  wish  that  we 
should  forget  we  are  his  creatures,  even  when  He 
elevates  us  to  the  greatest  height." 

There  was  indeed  much  to  remind  the  new  emperor 
that  he  was  human  and  subject  to  the  misfortimes  of 
humanity;  he  was  suffering  from  disease,  and  the 
calamities  in  store  for  him  were  already  beginning. 
But  for  a  few  hours  such  melancholy  reflections  were 
banished.     In  the  evening  the  city  was  illuminated, 

^  Goethe  says  a  new  dress,  of  the  model  of  tliat  worn  by 
Charlemagne,  was  made  for  each  emperor.  Charles  seems  to 
have  regarded  his  as  the  one  actually  worn  by  his  great  prede- 
cessor. 

^  Correspondance  de  Diet,  Ajf.  Etr.,  Letters  of  Belle  Isle  to 
Amelot;  Tagebuch  KarVs  F//.,  48-57;  Mem.de  Sophie  de  Prusse, 
ii.  33  el  seq.  The  best  description  of  the  ceremonies  at  the  elec- 
tion and  consecration  of  an  emperor  is  given  by  Goethe  iu  his 
Wahrheit  und  Dichtung. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  211 

and  the  various  dignitaries  vied  with  one  another  in 
the  magnificence  of  the  festivities  with  which  they 
celebrated  the  great  event.  Belle  Isle  had  for  weeks 
kept  open  house  and  entertained  on  a  lavish  scale. 
Such  hospitality  was  expensive,  he  wrote  the  secretary 
for  foreign  affairs,  but  exceedingly  beneficial  in  its 
results.^  On  the  day  of  the  coronation  he  gave  a 
supper  at  which  two  hundred  were  entertained,  almost 
all  princes  or  princesses,  for  in  Germany  the  supply 
of  such  dignitaries  was  unlimited.  This  was  followed 
by  a  masked  ball,  at  which  the  son  and  the  daugh- 
ters of  the  emperor  danced  until  three,  while  Charles 
was  in  despair  that  an  attack  of  gout  kept  him 
away. 2  At  the  marriage  of  his  brother  a  few  days 
before,  this  resolute  pleasure-seeker  had  been  pushed 
in  a  rolling  chair  by  two  chamberlains,  and  had 
thus  followed  the  figures  of  a  polonaise  danced 
by  torchlight,  but  he  could  not  repeat  such  efforts 
indefinitely. 

Charles  was  wise  to  derive  the  utmost  enjoyment 
possible  from  his  new  splendor  while  he  could,  for 
his  election  marked  the  close  of  his  prosperity.  It 
soon  appeared  how  empty  was  the  dignity  to  which 
he  had  been  chosen,  but  the  illusion  that  hung  about 
his  office  deceived  men  of  more  political  sagacity  than 
himseK.  The  choice  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  as 
emperor  had  been  the  object  of  French  policy  since 
the  death  of  Charles  VI. ;  Belle  Isle  had  remained  at 
Frankfort  instead  of  joining  the  army,  because  the 
intrigues  of  the  electors  were  thouglit  as  important  as 
victories  in  the  field;  he  now  wrote  Louis  that  tlie 
result  of  the  election  secured  the  repose  of  his  king- 

1  Belle  Isle  to  Amelot,  January  25,  1742. 

2  lb.,  February  12,  15,  1742. 


212  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

dom  and  covered  his  reign  with  glory.  "You  have 
accomplished  the  most  important  work  of  centuries," 
he  wrote  to  Fleury,  "in  destroying  the  House  of  Aus- 
tria, and  obtaining  the  crown  of  emperor  for  a  friend 
of  France."  ^  The  ambassador  knew  that  the  cardinal 
cared  as  much  for  thrift  as  for  glory,  and  he  hastened 
to  assure  him  that  no  emperor  had  ever  secured  his 
election  with  a  smaller  expenditure  of  money.'*  The 
belief  was  almost  universal,  even  among  those  who  at 
heart  were  friendly  to  Maria  Theresa,  that  her  cause 
had  received  a  serious  blow  from  the  result  of  the 
election,  and  that  her  antagonist  would  gain  in  pres- 
tige and  strength  from  his  new  dignity.^ 

The  course  of  events  proved  how  fallacious  was 
such  reasoning.  Charles  VII.  could  not  command 
an  additional  soldier  nor  a  florin  more  on  the  day 
after  he  had  been  consecrated  emperor;  the  electors 
who  had  chosen  him  for  their  nominal  chief  had  no 
thought  of  risking  their  fortunes  in  his  behalf.  For 
centuries  the  electoral  princes  had  sought  to  secure 
their  own  independence  and  to  prevent  the  growth 
of  a  central  and  controlling  power,  and  as  the  result 
^  of  such  a  policy  the  emperor  had  become  little  more 
vi  than  a  gorgeous  pageant;  the  empire  helped  to  disin- 
tegrate rather  than  to  unify  Germany. 

The  day  of  Charles's  election  witnessed  the  first 
important  success  of  the  arms  of  Maria  Theresa. 
Since  her  people  had  rallied  to  her  support,  the 
armies  of  the  queen  had  been  strengthened  until  she 
could  contend  with  her  enemies  almost  on  equal 
terms,   and  she  resolved  upon   an   effort  to   rescue 

'  Belle  Isle  to  Fleury,  January  24,  1742. 
'  lb.  to  Amelot,  January  25,  1742. 
•  lb.,  Mem.,  iii.  253,  7  et  pas. 


THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES  VII.  213 

Upper  Austria.  Sixteen  thousand  men,  under  the 
command  of  Marshal  Khevenhiiller,  advanced  upon 
Linz,  the  capital  of  the  province,  which  was  garri- 
soned by  French  and  Bavarian  soldiers  commanded 
by  Count  Segur.  Maria  Theresa  was  inferior  in  in- 
tellect to  her  great  rival  Frederick,  but  she  had  the 
qualities  which  excite  strong  enthusiasm,  and  they 
rendered  her  no  unequal  foe.  The  whole  energy  of 
her  nature  was  bent  upon  the  capture  of  Linz.  Vic- 
tory there  would  deliver  Austria  from  the  presence  of 
hostile  armies ;  it  would  lay  Bavaria  open  to  invasion ; 
it  would  be  a  turning-point  in  her  fortunes.  She  sent 
a  letter  to  Khevenhiiller  with  a  picture  of  herself  and 
of  her  son.  "Here  you  see,"  she  wrote,  "a  queen 
and  her  son  who  have  been  deserted  by  all  the  world. 
What  shall  be  this  child's  fate?  Its  mother  confides 
to  you,  as  a  faithful  minister,  her  strength  and  her 
power.  Act  then,  O  hero  and  true  vassal,  as  you 
must  answer  before  God  and  the  world,  and  you  will 
deserve  from  me  and  my  successors  favor  and  grati- 
tude and  grace,  and  from  the  world  fame.  Fight  well 
and  farewell!"^  The  letter  was  received  while  the 
officers  were  at  their  mess.  Khevenhiiller  rose  and 
read  it  aloud  before  those  present.  There  were  tears 
in  every  eye ;  the  voice  of  the  field  marshal  was  choked 
by  his  emotions ;  the  officers  rose  from  their  seats  and 
swore  that  their  lives  and  their  property  they  would 
sacrifice  in  the  defense  of  Maria  Theresa.  Her  por- 
trait was  exhibited  to  the  soldiers;  they  drew  the 
swords  from  their  scabbards,  kissed  the  edges,  and 
blew  kisses  to  the  picture  of  the  queen. 

While  the  assailants  were  animated  by  such  enthu- 
siasm, the  defenders  of  the  town  were  dispirited  and 
^  Letter  of  Maria  Theresa,  published  by  Arneth,  ii.  9. 


214  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

discouraged.  There  seemed  no  prospect  of  receiving 
reinforcements;  Marshal  Broglie  was  in  command  of 
the  army  at  Prague ;  he  needed  his  forces  for  his  own 
protection,  and  could  furnish  none  for  the  relief  of 
Linz ;  the  Bavarian  troops,  under  the  inefficient  com- 
mand of  Torring,  were  unable  to  be  of  any  aid. 
After  a  brief  bombardment,  Segur  offered  to  sur- 
render if  he  could  obtain  honorable  terms;  if  those 
were  not  granted,  he  declared  that  he  would  remain 
in  Linz  until  there  was  nothing  left  of  the  city  but 
ruins. ^  It  was  a  threat  easy  to  accomplish;  the  city 
was  largely  built  of  wood,  already  considerable  por- 
tions had  been  destroyed  by  fire,  and  the  citizens 
were  in  despair  at  the  prospect  of  a  long  siege.  The 
Austrian  commander  was  loath  to  witness  the  de- 
struction of  the  capital  of  Upper  Austria  and  the 
suffering  this  would  bring  to  subjects  of  the  queen ; 
he  consented  that  the  troops  under  Segur's  command 
might  evacuate  Linz  with  the  honors  of  war,  upon 
their  agreement  not  to  serve  for  a  year  against  Ma- 
ria Theresa.  On  January  24,  the  day  the  electoral 
college  chose  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  as  emperor, 
eight  thousand  French  and  Bavarians  marched  out  of 
Linz,  and  that  city  returned  to  its  former  allegiance. 
Upper  Austria  was  lost  to  the  new  emperor  as  rap- 
idly as  it  had  been  won.  Had  the  electors  known  of 
the  fate  of  Linz,  they  would  have  hesitated  before 
casting  their  votes  for  an  enemy  of  Austria ;  but  in 
those  days  news  traveled  slowly,  and  Charles  VII. 
had  been  chosen  before  the  change  in  his  fortunes 
could  be  announced ;  his  lot  would  have  been  a  hap- 
pier one  if  the  intelligence  had  reached  Frankfort  in 
time  to  prevent  his  election. 

'  S^gur  to  Belle  Isle,  January  30,  1742. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  215 

The  capture  of  Linz  excited  great  exultation  at 
Vienna;  but  one  person  was  dissatisfied,  and  that 
person  was  the  queen.  Her  feelings  were  more  bit- 
ter than  those  of  her  generals;  it  grieved  her  that 
any  terms  had  been  granted  the  French ;  her  indig- 
nation ajjainst  the  invaders  of  her  domains  would 
only  have  been  appeased  if  she  could  have  seen  them 
marching  before  her  as  prisoners  of  war,  expiating 
in  captivity  and  disgrace  the  wickedness  of  their 
conduct.^ 

If  the  terms  of  the  capitulation  were  unsatisfac- 
tory to  the  queen,  the  results  were  all  that  she  could 
desire.  Not  only  was  Upper  Austria  restored,  but 
Bavaria  was  open  to  invasion.  The  subjects  of  the 
Elector  of  Bavaria  had  regarded  with  apprehension 
the  warlike  plans  of  their  ruler.  They  had  already 
experienced  the  evils  which  flowed  from  the  unquiet 
ambition  of  the  House  of  Bavaria,  and  from  its  jeal- 
ousy of  Austrian  supremacy.  In  the  war  of  the 
Spanish  Succession  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  was  the 
ally  of  Louis  XIV. ;  he  had  been  chased  from  his 
dominions;  for  ten  years  Bavaria  had  been  held  by 
Austrian  troops  and  been  subjected  to  all  the  misery 
that  results  from  occupation  by  hostile  armies.  Since 
then  it  had  enjoyed  the  blessings  of  peace  under  the 
mild  rule  of  its  dukes,  until  Charles,  allured  by  the 
hope  of  wresting  the  imperial  crown  from  the  Hovise 
of  Austria,  and  stimulated  by  the  offer  of  French 
assistance,  followed  his  father's  example  and  involved 
his  country  in  the  vicissitudes  of  war.  The  peace- 
loving  inhabitants  of  Bavaria  had  no  desire  that  their 
ruler  should  also  be  emperor  and  king  of  Bohemia, 
and  they  justly  feared  that  Charles's  unwise  ambition 
'  Arneth,  ii.  11. 


216  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

would  bring  upon  the  land  all  the  misfortunes  which 
it  had  suffered  under  his  father.  These  gloomy  ap- 
prehensions were  now  realized;  the  Austrians  occu- 
pied the  whole  of  Bavaria,  practically  without  oppo- 
sition; the  scanty  resources  of  the  elector  had  been 
lavished  on  a  wasteful  magnificence ;  his  troops  were 
ill  paid,  ill  disciplined,  and  ill  officered,  and  thus 
could  offer  no  effective  resistance.^  On  the  day  that 
Charles  was  crowned  emperor  the  Austrians  entered 
Munich,  his  family  were  obliged  to  fly,  aU  of  Bavaria 
fell  under  the  control  of  the  enemy,  and  it  was  treated 
as  a  conquered  province. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  the  allies  were  fresh  from 
their  triumph  at  Prague,  and  before  this  series  of 
calamities  had  begun,  Frederick  had  broken  his  truce 
/with  Maria  Theresa,  and  he  led  into  Moravia  an  army 
chiefly  composed  of  Saxons  and  French.  His  plans 
seem  to  have  been  ill  advised,  and  no  important  re- 
sults followed. 

The  king  soon  returned  to  Berlin,  discontented 
with  his  allies,  alarmed  at  the  success  of  Maria  The- 
resa in  Bavaria,  and  very  ill  at  ease  that  he  had 
again  involved  himself  in  a  war  where  there  was  now 
little  hope  of  additional  gains,  and  in  which  he  had 
won  no  additional  laurels. 

It  was  more  than  a  year  since  Frederick's  invasion 
of  Silesia  had  kindled  the  war  for  the  dismemberment 
of  the  Austrian  empire;  though  the  moment  of  great- 
est peril  for  Maria  Theresa  had  passed,  yet  the  result 
of  the  war  was  still  uncertain.  France,  Prussia,  Sax- 
ony, and  Bavaria  were  allied ;  they  had  agreed  that, 
of  the  possessions  of  Maria  Theresa,  Silesia  should 
be  taken  by  Prussia,  Bohemia  and  Upper  Austria  by 
1  MSS.  Mem.  de  Belle  Isle,  iv.  345. 


THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES   VII.  217 

Bavaria,  and  Moravia  by  Saxony,  ^  and  they  were  still 
in  possession  of  large  parts  of  the  disputed  territory ; 
if  they  continued  the  war  with  vigor,  Austria  might 
cease  to  be  one  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe.  It 
was  Frederick  who  had  involved  Maria  Theresa  in  a 
contest  that  threatened  her  ruin ;  it  was  Frederick's 
desertion  of  his  allies  that  insured  her  final  victory. 

The  king  of  Prussia  was  greatly  annoyed  at  the 
result  of  his  expedition  into  Moravia,  where  he  had 
gained  neither  glory  nor  advantage;  his  allies,  with 
good  cause,  distrusted  him,  and  he,  with  equally  good 
cause,  complained  of  the  blunders  and  the  incapacity 
of  their  generals.  He  manifested  his  discontent  by 
an  imusual  display  of  ill  nature :  he  was  irritable  and 
despondent.  "The  expression  of  his  face,"  wrote  the 
French  ambassador,  "was  that  of  a  lost  soul."^  Ap- 
prehensive of  the  future  and  displeased  with  his  asso- 
ciates, Frederick  resolved  to  make  peace  and  secure 
his  gains.  "I  need  peace  at  once,"  he  wrote  Pode- 
wils;  "no  general  peace  will  be  as  advantageous  to 
me  as  to  make  a  separate  treaty."^  It  had  been 
agreed  that  the  allies  should  act  together  in  any  nego- 
tiations, and  Frederick  knew  fidl  well  that  his  deser- 
tion would  leave  his  associates  in  grievous  plight; 
no  one  judged  the  political  and  military  situation 
with  more  unerring  accuracy.  The  probable  results 
of  his  secession  furnished  him  a  strong  argmnent  in 
obtaining  what  he  wanted  for  himself.  If  Maria 
Theresa  would  cede  Silesia  to  him,  he  told  the  Eng- 
lish envoy,   she  could  save  Bohemia,  Moravia,  and 

'  Such  were  substantially  the  terms  of  the  treaty  signed  in 
November,  1741. 

*  Valori  to  Amelot,  AprU  25,  1742. 
8  Pol.  Cor.,  u.  98, 119. 


218  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Upper  Austria  for  herself.^  These  were  the  prov- 
inces which,  by  a  treaty  signed  in  November,  he  had 
agreed  to  secure  for  Saxony  and  Bavaria,  but  this 
consideration  did  not  affect  him.  He  hated  the  Sax- 
ons, and  regarded  the  emperor  as  an  imbecile.  To 
any  charge  of  bad  faith  he  had  the  answer  which  he 
has  made  in  his  memoirs,  —  "Is  it  better  that  a 
nation  should  perish,  or  that  a  prince  should  break 
his  promise?"^ 

In  a  paper  intended  for  his  own  use,  Frederick 
balanced  the  reasons  for  and  against  making  a  sepa- 
rate peace.  In  the  memoirs  which  he  prepared  for 
posterity,  he  sought  to  excuse  his  conduct  by  charging 
the  French  with  bad  faith,  but  in  discussing  the 
matter  with  himself  he  was  frank.  "  It  is  not  well 
to  violate  one's  word  without  cause,"  he  wrote,  "and 
thus  far  I  have  had  no  reason  to  complain  of  France 
or  of  my  allies.  One  gains  the  reputation  of  a 
changeable  man  and  a  trifler  if  he  does  not  execute 
the  projects  he  has  formed,  and  if  he  often  passes  from 
one  side  to  the  other.  "^  But  the  arguments  in  favor 
of  deserting  his  allies  addressed  themselves  more 
strongly  to  Frederick's  mind.  The  French  tactics 
were  bad,  he  wrote,  and  their  armies  would  probably 
be  defeated;  in  working  for  Saxony  he  was  helping 
to  make  a  neighbor  more  powerful,  and,  he  added, 
in  a  tone  of  offended  morality  which  is  very  rare  in 
his  secret  papers,  a  neighbor  that  was  treating  the 
House  of  Austria  with  ingratitude.  The  war  was 
expensive,  he  continued,  and  the  reverses  of  fortune 

1  Pol.  Cor.,  ii.  127. 

*  Hist,  de  man  temps,  i.  6. 

*  *<  Expose  des  raisons  que  je  puis  avoir  pour  rester  dans 
I'alliance  de  France." 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  219 

might  cause  lilm  to  lose  what  he  had  gained  up  to 
that  point.  1 

In  pursuance  of  such  views  his  minister,  Konig- 
griitz,  intimated  to  Lord  Hyndford  that  if  Frederick 
could  have  Silesia,  and  reasonable  satisfaction  were 
given  his  allies,  he  was  willing  to  make  peace. ^  The 
English  negotiator  at  once  objected  to  anything  for 
the  allies,  and  he  was  informed  that  this  condition 
would  not  be  insisted  upon.^  But  -while  Frederick 
was  willing  that  his  allies  should  have  nothing,  he 
was  resolved  to  obtain  Silesia  for  himself,  and  his 
advances  were  coldly  received.  Maria  Theresa  was 
reluctant  to  yield  anything  when  fortune  was  darkest, 
and  she  protested  against  any  concessions  when  the 
prospect  seemed  brighter.  The  English  negotiator 
was  discouraged  by  the  summary  manner  in  which 
Frederick  had  violated  the  armistice  of  October,  and 
hesitated  about  making  any  other  agreement.  What 
hold  could  there  be,  wrote  Hyndford,  on  a  prince  who 
was  without  truth  and  honor  and  religion?*  Not 
only  was  Maria  Theresa  unwilling  to  agree  on  terms, 
but  she  said  also  that  it  was  useless  to  treat  with 
Frederick,  because  he  would  be  bound  by  no  promise ; 
she  would  indeed  consent  to  cede  Silesia,  but  only  on 
the  condition  that  Frederick  should  actually  furnish 
an  army  for  her  assistance,  and  declare  war  upon  his 
former  allies.  "He  cannot  object  to  this,"  she  said, 
with  sarcastic  reference  to  the  zeal  he  had  expressed 
for  the  welfare  of  Germany;  "this  wiU  secure  for  him 

1  Pol.  Cor.,  ii.  98-100. 

2  Ih.,  ii.  84. 

^  lb.,  ii.  84  et  seq.  Report  of  interview  with  Podewils,  pub- 
lished by  Griinhagen. 

*  Dispatch  of  May  17,  1742;  Raumer,  Beitrage,  ii.  158. 


220  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

the  glory  of  being  the  liberator  of  his  country  and 
the  restorer  of  public  tranquillity."^ 

It  was  not  for  such  ends  that  Frederick  intended 
to  involve  himself  in  further  warfare,  but  he  recog- 
nized the  fact  that  distrust  of  his  word  was  an  obsta- 
cle to  obtaining  the  peace  he  sought.  As  he  never 
endeavored  to  deceive  himself  about  his  modes  of 
procedure,  so  his  feelings  were  not  hurt  by  the  un- 
favorable views  which  his  neighbors  formed  of  them. 
"An  obstacle  to  any  treaty,"  he  wrote  Podewils,  "is 
the  suspicion  of  the  court  of  Vienna  that  we  shall 
treat  them  after  the  peace  as  we  did  after  the  pro- 
tocol of  Schnellendorf."^  "You  must  assure  the 
English  ambassador  that  we  will  not  break  our 
engagements,"  he  told  his  minister,  but  the  effort 
was  not  successful,  and  Maria  Theresa  refused  to  offer 
satisfactory  terms. 

The  only  way  for  Frederick  to  obtain  peace  was 
to  show  once  more  how  dangerous  was  his  hostility. 
"The  queen  of  Hungary  has  made  every  offer  and 
proposition  to  detach  me  from  the  alliance,"  he  wrote 
Fleury,  after  she  had  refused  to  accede  to  the  terms 
which  he  himself  had  proposed,  "but  it  is  trouble 
wasted.  The  only  thing  to  do  at  present  is  to  act 
cordially  together."  ^  But  while  preparing  to  try 
again  the  chances  of  battle,  he  bade  his  minister  con- 
tinue his  relations  with  Hyndford,  in  order  to  have 
"a  back  staircase  which  we  can  use  in  case  of  fire."* 

On  the  17th  of  May,  1742,  he  encountered  the 
Austrian  army  at  Chotusitz,  and  after  a  hard-fought 

*  Mem.  pour  Rohimon,  April  30,  1742,  cited  by  Ameth. 

*  Frederick  to  Podewils,  April  21,  1742. 

»  li.  to  Fleury,  March  15  and  May  14,  1742. 

*  Pol.  Cor.,  ii.  133. 


THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES   VII.  221 

battle,  in  which  eight  thousand  men  fell,  Frederick 
gained  a  decisive  victory.  He  did  not  pursue  the  de- 
feated army ;  he  wished  to  show  Maria  Theresa  that 
her  generals  could  not  contend  against  his  genius,  and 
he  did  not  wish  to  weaken  her  forces  unnecessarily.^ 

The  lesson  was  learned,  and  the  queen  consented 
to  follow  the  advice  of  her  English  friends  and  make 
peace  with  Frederick.  The  conditions  were  soon 
agreed  upon ;  in  June,  1742,  the  treaty  of  Breslau 
was  signed,  and  by  it  practically  all  of  Silesia,  to- 
gether with  Glatz,  was  ceded  to  Prussia.  Frederick 
agreed  to  abandon  his  allies,  and  to  remain  neutral 
in  the  war  between  them  and  Austria.^ 

The  province  for  which  Frederick  had  struggled 
with  such  ability  and  such  bad  faith  was  at  last  his, 
and  it  greatly  increased  the  power  of  the  Prussian 
kingdom.  Twenty  years  before,  Prussia  had  counted 
for  no  more  than  Saxony  or  Bavaria;  now,  no  one 
disputed  her  place  as  one  of  the  great  powers  of 
Europe.  Frederick  was  justly  triumphant,  and  there 
was  much  exultation  at  Berlin  over  the  happy  termi- 
nation of  the  war. 

Though  Frederick's  desertion  of  his  allies  was  the 
salvation  of  Maria  Theresa,  the  sacrifice  by  which  she 
had  bought  her  peace  rankled  in  her  mind.  The 
fairest  jewel  in  her  crown  was  gone,  she  said;  she 
could  not  see  a  Silesian  without  bursting  into  tears. ^ 

TJiere  was  no  longer  any  reason  for  concealment, 

*  To  annihilate  the  defeated  army  of  Prince  Charles  "  lag  in 
des  Konigs  Hand  ;  es  lag  nicht  in  seiner  Absicht,"  says  Droysen, 
Frederick's  most  enthusiastic  eulogist,  i.  452. 

'  The  preliminaries  were  signed  at  Breslau,  the  final  treaty 
at  Berlin. 

3  Dispatch  of  B^biuson,  cited  by  Raumer. 


222  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

and  when  the  French  ambassador  asked  Frederick  to 
furnish  troops  for  the  relief  of  Prague,  he  declined 
the  request.  "I  will  speak  to  you  frankly,"  said  the 
king;  "affairs  are  in  a  desperate  condition.  I  am 
endeavoring  to  make  peace  for  myseK."^  "In  the 
bitterness  of  my  heart,"  he  wrote  Fleury,  "I  have 
been  obliged  to  save  myself  from  inevitable  shipwreck 
and  gain  the  port  as  best  I  could."  ^  The  bitterness 
of  his  heart  he  expressed  to  Podewils  in  a  different 
fashion.  "  It  is  a  grand  and  happy  result  that  puts 
this  house  in  possession  of  one  of  the  most  flourish- 
ing provinces  of  Germany.  One  should  stop  at  the 
right  moment:  to  force  fortune  is  to  lose  it;"  and 
he  expressed  to  his  minister  a  just  confidence  in  his 
ability  to  retain  his  conquests.  "My  security,"  he 
wrote,  "is  founded  on  a  good  army,  a  full  treasury, 
and  strong  fortresses."^ 

Frederick  had  also  to  announce  the  unpleasant 
intelligence  to  the  unfortunate  emperor.  "  If  my 
sword  can  no  longer  serve  you,  my  pen  shall,"  he 
told  him,  and,  with  a  refinement  of  sarcasm,  he  bade 
Charles  VII.  to  have  a  special  care  of  his  person, 
and  to  remember  that  the  safety  of  the  empire  de- 
pended on  his  life.*  "This  was  a  deadly  blow,"  the 
poor  emperor  noted  in  his  diary,  when  he  was  in- 
formed of  the  treaty  of  Breslau.  To  all  his  former 
allies  the  king  now  gave  the  judicious  but  unpalatable 
advice  that  they  should  make  peace  on  the  best  terms 
they  could  get.^ 

1  Valori  to  Amelot,  June  11,  1742. 

^  Frederick  to  Fleury,  June  18. 

«  Pol.  Cor.,  ii.  197,  213. 

*  Frederick  to  emperor,  June  18  and  July  5. 

'  lb.  to  Fleury,  June  13,  1742;  to  emperor,  same  date. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VIL  223 

It  has  been  repeatedly  said  that  Fleury  was  nego- 
tiating with  Austria,  and  that  a  letter  of  his  was 
shown  Frederick  and  determined  him  to  make  a  sepa- 
rate peace.  Often  as  the  statement  has  been  made, 
there  is  not  a  scrap  of  evidence  to  sustain  the  charge. 
No  such  letter  has  ever  been  found ;  Frederick  would 
have  been  pleased  to  furnish  such  an  excuse  for  his 
conduct,  but  he  never  asserted  that  such  a  letter  was 
shown  him.^  In  his  memoirs  he  has  stated  in  general 
terms  that  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  French 
were  acting  in  bad  faith,  but  in  his  private  memo- 
randa he  recorded  alike  the  truth  and  his  own  belief. 
"The  affairs  of  Germany  are  in  such  a  condition  that 
the  cardinal  cannot  abandon  them  without  losing  his 
credit  in  Europe,  and  having  another  war  on  his 
hands  still  more  disastrous. " ^  "I  defy  the  queen  of 
Hungary  to  make  a  separate  peace  with  France,"  he 
wrote  to  Podewils.^  Frederick  made  no  attempt  to 
reproach  his  allies  with  bad  faith  when  he  announced 
his  own  defection ;  he  contented  himself  with  saying 
that  the  force  of  events  had  compelled  him  to  take 
this  step;  he  was  their  superior  in  duplicity  as  much 
as  in  ability. 

The  news  of  Frederick's  desertion  carried  dismay 
to  all  his  former  allies,  but  especially  to  the  French. 
Their  policy  in  Germany  had  been  based  upon  the 

^  The  falsity  of  this  story,  circulated  by  Frederick's  admirers 
and  repeated  by  historians  without  examination,  has  been  con- 
chisively  shown  by  the  Due  de  Broglie  in  his  Frederic  II.  et 
Marie  Tker'ese.  The  series  of  books  which  the  Due  de  Broglie 
has  published  on  the  war  of  the  Austrian  Succession  are  models  of 
historical  writing:  they  are  scholarly,  judicious,  and  interesting. 

-  "  Exposd  des  raisons  que  je  puis  avoir  pour  rester  dans 
I'alliance  de  France." 

3  Frederick  to  Podewils,  June  8,  1742. 


224  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Prussian  alliance ;  it  was  with  the  help  of  the  Prus- 
sian army  that  they  hoped  to  extend  the  dominions  of 
the  House  of  Bavaria,  and  to  destroy  the  predomi- 
nance of  the  House  of  Austria.^  Relying  upon  Fred- 
erick's cooperation,  the  French  armies  had  penetrated 
into  Bohemia,  more  than  a  month's  march  from  their 
own  frontiers;  deserted  by  their  ally,  they  found 
themselves  in  a  condition  of  great  peril. 

Frederick's  conduct  was  not  a  surprise  to  all. 
Fleury  had  always  distrusted  the  king  and  disap- 
proved of  the  war.  Belle  Isle,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
chief  advocate  of  the  policy  which  had  been  adopted, 
had  been  Frederick's  earnest  admirer;  he  had  ar- 
ranged the  terms  of  the  alliance  between  France  and 
Prussia;  he  now  saw  with  consternation  his  great 
political  combination  thrftatened  with  ruin  by  Prus- 
sia's withdrawal  from  it.  Not  only  was  the  outlook 
gloomy,  but  the  treaty  of  Breslau  worked  a  disastrous 
change  in  his  own  position.  For  a  while  he  had  been 
before  the  eyes  of  all  Europe ;  he  had  filled  the  great 
role  of  an  emperor  maker;  he  had  been  extolled  by 
his  countrymen  as  a  man  of  new  ideas  and  original 
genius,  arising  among  a  host  of  political  mediocrities. 
But  in  the  dejection  which  followed  Frederick's  deser- 
tion, what  had  been  extolled  as  a  policy  of  genius 
was  denounced  as  a  policy  of  adventure ;  the  emperor 
maker  became  a  political  charlatan,  whose  rashness 
had  involved  France  in .  serious  danger,  and  upon 
whose  credulity  Frederick  had  played  to  advance  his 
own  ends. 2 

^  See  this  stated  in  letters  of  Belle  Isle  to  Amelot. 

*  "  Nous  n'aurions  jamais  commencd  cette  guerre  si  nous 
n'Avions  cuinptd  sur  Talliauce  du  roi  dc  I'russe."  Aiuclot  to 
Vaurdal,  February  3,  1743,  Cor.  d'Esp. 


THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES   VII.  225 

The  counsels  of  Belle  Isle  were  no  longer  potent  at 
Versailles,  and  Fleury  was  eager  for  peace  on  any 
terms.  Unfortunately,  he  had  excited  the  animosity 
of  an  antagonist  who  never  forgave  a  wrong,  who 
was  as  warlike  as  he  was  peaceful,  who  believed  her 
cause  to  be  that  of  religion  and  justice,  and  who 
wished  to  visit  upon  France  the  vengeance  which  she 
had  been  unable  to  inflict  upon  Frederick. 

Saxony  promptly  followed  Prussia's  example,  and 
the  elector  obtained  peace  by  abandoning  his  claims 
on  the  Austrian  Succession.  But  the  advances  made 
by  France  were  received  in  a  different  spirit.  Belle 
Isle  was  instructed  to  seek  an  interview  with  the 
Austrian  general,  and  to  rescue  the  French  army  at 
Prague  from  its  perilous  position  on  the  best  terms 
he  could  obtain.  To  beg  fo^  peace  was  a  distasteful 
task  for  one  who  had  hoped  to  overthrow  the  power 
of  Austria.  "Of  all  the  sacrifices  I  have  made  for 
the  king,"  he  wrote,  "nothing  has  cost  me  as  much 
as  my  interview  with  Marshal  Konigsegg."  The 
unwelcome  duty  was  made  more  disagreeable  by  the 
contemptuous  indifference  with  which  the  Austrians 
received  these  overtures. 

Belle  Isle  offered  to  abandon  Bohemia  if  Bavaria 
were  restored  to  the  emperor,  but  Maria  Theresa  had  no 
thought  of  letting  her  enemies  escape  on  such  terms. 
She  wished  to  hold  Bavaria  to  punish  the  emperor, 
and  she  wished  for  the  unconditional  surrender  of  the 
army  at  Prague  to  punish  the  French;  she  must  have 
indemnity  for  the  past  and  security  for  the  future,  and, 
in  short,  Konigsegg  said  that  he  was  not  prepared  to 
state  any  terms  on  which  peace  could  be  made.^ 

1  Belle  Isle  to  Amelot,  July  26,  1742;  Kynigsegg  to  Belle 
Isle,  July  31,  1742. 


226  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

The  overbearing  conduct  of  Austria  plunged  Fleury 
in  despair;  he  made  a  last  effort  to  smooth  the  way 
for  a  reconciliation,  but  he  succeeded  only  in  exciting 
the  ridicule  of  his  enemies  and  the  regrets  of  his 
friends.  His  skill  in  the  art  of  putting  things,  a 
certain  honeyed  sweetness  of  style,  had  often  served 
him  in  emergencies,  and  by  such  means  he  now  hoped 
to  soften  the  asperity  of  Maria  Theresa.  In  a  long 
letter,  which  he  addressed  to  Konigsegg,  he  com- 
plained that  he  was  unjustly  accused  of  fostering  the 
war  against  Austria.  "Many  know,"  he  said,  "how 
opposed  I  was  to  the  measures  which  were  adopted, 
and  that  I  was,  so  to  speak,  forced  to  consent.  You 
can  easily  divine  who  determined  the  king  to  adopt 
a  policy  so  contrary  to  my  tastes  and  my  principles. 
If  I  coidd  have  conferred  with  you,"  he  continued, 
"  it  might  have  been  possible  to  prevent  a  war  which 
has  caused  such  calamities  and  cost  so  much  blood. 
God  did  not  allow  it,  and  I  can  truly  say  that  this 
has  been  the  chief  bitterness  of  my  whole  life.  But 
these  great  misfortunes  are  not  beyond  remedy.  You 
know  too  well  the  uncertainty  of  affairs  not  to  agree 
that  with  whatever  success  God  favors  one,  neither 
humanity,  nor  religion,  nor  even  good  policy  allow  it 
to  be  abused."^ 

The  amiable  cardinal  was  dealing  with  merciless 
foes.  This  lamentable  epistle  was  at  once  given  to 
the  press,  and  was  read  by  all  Europe*,  its  author 
became  the  jest  of  every  diplomat,  and  its  only  effect 
was  to  render  Maria  Theresa  more  confident,  and  to 
strengthen  her  resolve  to  make  no  peace  except  at  the 
price  of  French  territory.  She  re})lied  to  these  propo- 
sitions for  peace  in  a  letter  full  of  invective  against 
*  Fleury  to  Koiiigscgg,  July  11,  1742. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES    VII.  227 

France,  and  declared  that  it  was  alike  just  and  neces- 
sary to  repair  the  wrongs  that  had  been  done,  and  to 
protect  herself  against  such  enterprises  in  the  future. ^ 

Nothing  remained  but  to  continue  the  war,  and  the 
condition  of  the  army  in  Bohemia  was  now  full  of 
peril.  Its  numbers  had  been  reduced  by  disease, 
battle,  and  desertion ;  the  Saxon  contingent  had  been 
withdrawn,  and  Bavaria  could  furnish  no  assistance. 
No  longer  obliged  to  keep  an  army  with  which  to 
oppose  Frederick,  Maria  Theresa  could  concentrate 
all  her  forces  about  Prague.  The  French  had  entered 
the  country  as  conquerors,  and  it  seemed  probable 
that  they  would  leave  it  only  on  their  parole  as  pris- 
oners of  war. 

The  rashness  of  attempting  conquests  in  the  heart  of 
Germany  was  now  evident ;  from  the  Rhine  to  Prague 
was  a  march  of  forty  days,  and  any  reinforcements 
must  cross  the  mountain  range  which  divided  Bohemia 
from  Bavaria,  where  a  small  force  could  check  the 
advance  of  an  army.  It  was  equally  difficult  for  the 
forces  at  Prague  to  retreat,  and  in  August  the  Aus- 
trians  invested  the  place. 

The  situation  was  rendered  worse  by  constant  bick- 
erings between  the  leaders.  Belle  Isle  and  Broglie 
were  associated  in  the  command,  and  no  combination 
could  have  been  more  unfortunate.  Fleury  was  in- 
clined to  choose  old  men  for  his  generals,  and  Broglie 
was  past  threescore  and  ten  when  he  was  sent  to  the 
army  in  Bohemia.  He  was  infirm  as  well  as  old,  and 
his  enemies  whispered  that  a  partial  attack  of  paraly- 
sis had  benumbed  the  moderate  capacity  he  had  pos- 
sessed when  younger.  Belle  Isle  regarded  him  with 
a  contempt  which  he  made  no  effort  to  conceal.  "I 
1  Cor.  de  Vienne,  August  10,  1742. 


228  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

agree  with  all  the  army,"  he  wrote  of  his  colleague 
to  the  minister  of  war,  "as  to  his  incapacity  and  his 
dotage.  We  are  sure  that  nothing  could  be  worse."  ^ 
The  cardinal  feared  that  Belle  Isle's  zeal  against  the 
House  of  Austria  had  been  too  pronounced  for  him 
to  conduct  with  advantage  negotiations  for  peace,  and 
Broglie  was  substituted  in  his  place.  It  was  a  judi- 
cious change,  replied  Belle  Isle ;  he  himself  had  car- 
ried out  the  desires  of  the  king  as  to  the  choice  of  an 
emperor,  and  had  overcome  the  hostility  of  the  Ger- 
man princes  towards  France,  while  Broglie  had  caused 
the  ruin  of  the  French  army,  had  alienated  the  king 
of  Prussia,  and  by  his  inefficiencj^  had  rendered  the 
greatest  services  to  the  court  of  Vienna ;  it  was  natu- 
ral that  he  should  be  an  acceptable  negotiator  to  the 
queen  for  whom  he  had  procured  such  advantages.^ 

To  such  attacks  Broglie  retorted  by  saying  that 
Belle  Isle  was  constantly  forming  rash  and  chimerical 
plans,  which  would  result  in  the  destruction  of  the 
army  if  any  one  were  mad  enough  to  try  to  put  them 
into  execution,  and  that  he  lay  on  his  bed  all  day, 
covering  reams  of  paper  with  counsels  and  reproaches 
that  nobody  had  the  time  to  read. 

A  French  army  of  forty  thousand  men  under  the 
command  of  Marshal  Maillebois  had  been  stationed 
in  Germany  in  order  to  overawe  the  electors  and 
compel  the  neutrality  of  Hanover ;  it  was  now  decided 
to  send  these  troops  to  the  relief  of  the  army  in  Bohe- 
mia. In  the  latter  part  of  August  the  march  began, 
and  in  September  they  reached  Eger.  But  their 
most  serious  difficulties  now  began.  At  the  news  of 
their  approach  the  Austrians  reluctantly  raised  the 

»  Belle  Isle  to  Breteuil,  September  20,  1742. 
a  lb.  to  Ainelot,  July,  1742. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES    VII.  229 

siege  of  Prague,  and  endeavored  to  prevent  the  fur- 
ther advance  of  the  French  under  Maillebois. 

The  marshal  was  a  man  well  stricken  in  years  and 
of  moderate  ability,  and  the  instructions  under  which 
he  acted  would  have  checked  the  success  of  an  abler 
and  a  more  enterprising  general.  Whatever  else  he 
did  with  his  soldiers,  said  his  orders,  he  must  not  let 
them  fight.  This  was  the  last  army  which  the  French 
had  in  the  field :  its  advance  to  Bavaria  left  France 
open  to  invasion;  a  defeat  would  be  fatal;  even  a 
victory  would  prove  a  questionable  blessing,  for  it 
would  excite  the  enemy  to  attempt  a  diversion  by 
invading  France.^  When  such  instructions  were  to 
be  executed  by  a  septuagenarian  general,  it  was  not 
strange  that  nothing  was  accomplished.  After  much 
delay  Maillebois  started  to  cross  the  mountains  which 
separate  Eger  from  Prague,  but  the  season  was 
already  advanced;  the  weather  was  unfavorable,  and 
the  roads  were  impassable  for  cannon;  the  attempt 
was  abandoned,  and  the  army  fell  back  to  Eger. 
Three  months  of  marching  backward  and  forward 
without  result  had  discouraged  the  soldiers  and  im- 
paired their  discipline.  If  few  were  lost  in  fighting, 
many  perished  from  sickness ;  an  army  of  forty  thou- 
sand men  had  marched  across  Germany  to  relieve 
Prague,  and  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  undertaking. 

Broglie  was  now  given  the  command  in  Bavaria, 
and  Belle  Isle  was  left  in  Prague,  with  orders  to 
extricate  himself  as  best  he  could.  The  army  shut  up 
in  that  city  presented  a  very  different  spectacle  from 
the  forty  thousand  good  troops  who  had  entered  the 
town  a  year  before.    Their  numbers  had  been  reduced 

^  Documents  cited  in  Campagnes  de  Maillebois  ■  Maillebois  to 
Breteuil,  September  21,  1742,  Mem,  de  Noailles. 


230  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

to  eighteen  thousand,  and  of  these  four  thousand  were 
unfit  for  service ;  they  were  dying  at  the  rate  of  thirty 
a  day;  they  were  ill  provided  with  supplies;  their 
horses  had  been  killed ;  the  officers  had  come  out  in 
search  of  glory,  but  they  had  found  only  privation ; 
they  had  come  to  win  promotion  in  pitched  battles, 
they  had  been  engaged  in  obscure  skirmishes,  and 
now  had  the  prospect  of  a  long  and  painful  retreat  to 
be  made  on  foot;  the  soldiers  had  little  confidence  in 
their  leaders,  and  were  equally  despondent  and  dis- 
couraged.^ All  had  been  looking  forward  to  a  speedy 
relief  from  their  troubles  by  the  arrival  of  Maille- 
bois's  army.  It  was  now  annoimced  that  all  hope  of 
succor  must  be  abandoned ;  the  Austrian  forces  again 
gathered  about  Prague,  and  the  French  general  might 
well  have  felt  that  nothing  remained  but  to  surrender 
on  the  best  terms  that  could  be  obtained. 

Whatever  were  Belle  Isle's  faults,  he  possessed 
energy  and  courage  in  a  very  high  degree.  Never 
for  a  moment  did  he  entertain  the  idea  of  a  surren- 
der ;  there  was  indeed  no  hope  of  saving  Prague,  but 
he  was  ready  to  encounter  any  peril  rather  than 
allow  the  army  under  his  command  to  become  prison- 
ers of  war.  "To  surrender,"  he  wrote,  "would  be  so 
humiliating  that  the  thought  of  such  a  result  fills  me 
with  horror;  it  is  infinitely  more  glorious  for  the  na- 
tion and  the  king  to  fight  and  perish  with  our  arms 
in  our  hands.  "^ 

In  addition  to  the  difficulties  of  the  situation.  Belle 
Isle's  health  was  infirm,  but  no  sickness  could  abate 
his  energy,  and  he  resolved  to  make  his  way  to  Bava- 
ria or  perish  in  the  attempt.     In  Eger  he  would  be 

'  MSS.  Mem.  de  Belle  Isle,  v.  336  et  seq. 
2  Belle  Isle  to  Breteuil,  October,  1742, 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  231 

safe,  but  from  Prague  to  Eger  was  a  march  of  one 
hundred  miles,  and  he  must  cross  the  Bohmerwakl 
mountains,  which  in  midwinter  would  be  almost  im- 
passable even  if  there  were  no  enemy  to  hinder.  In 
order  to  have  any  chance  of  a  safe  retreat,  it  was 
necessary  to  escape  from  the  city  unobserved  by  the 
Austrian  patrols.  The  task  was  difficult,  but  it  was 
accomplished;  preparations  were  quickly  made,  and 
the  secret  was  kept,  not  only  from  the  enemy,  but 
from  the  citizens  of  Prague,  who  would  soon  have 
revealed  it  to  the  Austrian  commander.  A  little 
after  midnight  on  the  17th  of  December,  by  the  light 
of  a  winter's  moon,  fourteen  thousand  men  with  thirty 
cannon  marched  quietly  out  of  the  gates  of  Prague, 
and  crossed  with  all  possible  haste  the  great  plain 
that  surrounds  the  city.  The  cold  was  intense,  the 
wind  blew  sharply  from  the  north,  and  the  ground  was 
covered  with  snow,  but  the  soldiers  marched  twenty- 
four  hours  with  hardly  any  respite,  and  reached  the 
foot  of  the  mountains  before  the  Austrians  discovered 
their  escape. 

The  greatest  difficulties  were  still  before  them. 
The  most  feasible  route  to  Eger  skirted  the  moun- 
tains and  passed  through  what  is  now  the  famous 
watering-place  of  Carlsbad,  but  on  this  road  the 
Austrian  cavalry  could  precede  the  fugitives  and  burn 
the  bridges  over  the  river.  Belle  Isle  therefore  re- 
solved to  take  his  army  by  the  wild  and  little  fre- 
quented paths  which  went  directly  over  the  moun- 
tains; there  at  least  it  would  be  impossible  for  the 
Austrian  troops  to  get  ahead  of  them  and  block  the 
way.  The  natural  difficulties  were  appalling,  and 
every  hour  was  important.  Each  day  the  army  was 
on  the  march  long  before  daylight,  in  the  intense  cold 


232  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

of  the  early  morning;  horses  and  men  slipped  on  the 
icy  roads  and  were  lost  in  the  abysses,  by  the  side  of 
which  the  mountain  paths  ran ;  many  were  overcome 
by  the  cold;  they  lay  down  to  die,  and  there  was  no 
time  to  stop  for  those  who  fell  by  the  way.  As  the 
soldiers  struggled  over  the  icy  heights  in  the  pale 
moonlight,  they  seemed  like  a  host  of  apparitions,  as 
phantasmal  as  the  dreams  of  conquest  in  pursuit  of 
which  they  had  been  brought  a  thousand  miles  from 
their  homes.  Nine  days  after  leaving  Prague  the 
French  reached  Eger;  over  one  thousand  men  had 
perished  on  the  march,  and  the  condition  of  the  sur- 
vivors was  lamentable;  but  they  were  not  prisoners 
of  war,  they  had  not  lost  a  piece  of  cannon,  and  the 
honor  of  the  army  was  saved.  ^ 

Even  the  infirm  remnant  which  had  been  left  at 
Prague  obtained  favorable  terms.  As  soon  as  Belle 
Isle's  escape  was  known  they  were  summoned  to  sur- 
render. "Unless  those  who  are  in  condition  to  bear 
arms  can  be  allowed  to  retire  with  the  honors  of 
war,"  replied  their  commander,  "we  will  set  fire  to 
the  four  corners  of  Prague  and  perish  in  its  ruins." 
Prince  Lobkowitz  thought  that  the  capture  of  a  few 
hundred  infirm  soldiers  woidd  be  dearly  bought  by 
the  destruction  of  a  city,  and  he  agreed  to  these  con- 
ditions. His  own  palace  was  in  Prague,  said  Maria 
Theresa  in  her  rage,  and  that  was  why  he  granted  the 
French  terms.  The  most  of  those  whom  Belle  Isle 
had  left  in  the  hospitals  summoned  up  sufficient  en- 

*  The  best  account  of  the  retreat  from  Pragiie  is  in  the  MSS. 
Memoires  of  Belle  Isle,  and  in  his  reports  to  Breteuil.  Vauve- 
nargues  took  part  in  the  retreat  and  has  described  its  priva- 
tions and  its  miseries,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  never  re- 
covered. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  233 

ergy  to  appear  under  arms  and  avail  themselves  of 
the  terms  of  the  capitulation.  To  the  great  annoy- 
ance of  the  Austrian  general,  nearly  all  of  the  four 
thousand  soldiers  in  the  city  marched  out  before  him 
and  rejoined  their  comrades  in  Bavaria.^ 

The  retreat  from  Prague  ranks  high  in  the  annals 
of  heroism,  but  Belle  Isle  did  not  receive  from  his 
countrymen  the  applause  for  which  he  hoped.  All 
were  so  wearied  of  the  disasters  of  the  Bohemian 
campaign  that  the  escape  of  the  relics  of  a  defeated 
army  excited  no  enthusiasm.  The  troops  went  into 
winter  quarters,  and  Belle  Isle  returned  to  France, 
which  he  had  left  with  such  glowing  hopes  two  years 
before,  to  find  himself,  if  not  actually  in  disgrace,  yet 
a  much  less  influential  personage  than  he  had  been. 

In  the  mean  time  an  event  long  anticipated  had  at 
last  taken  place,  and  the  career  of  Cardinal  Fleury  was 
ended.  The  cardinal's  constitution  was  vigorous  and 
his  health  had  been  preserved  by  a  temperate  life, 
but  the  marks  of  great  age  had  long  been  apparent. 
As  he  approached  his  ninetieth  year,  there  were  fre- 
quent rmnors  that  he  wished  to  lift  the  burdens  of 
state  from  his  aged  shoulders,  and  to  seek  a  season  of 
repose  before  he  died.  If  such  hopes  were  enter- 
tained by  those  impatient  of  his  rule,  they  were 
doomed  to  disappointment.  Fleury  was  not  a  very 
ambitious  man  by  nature,  but  when  well  advanced  in 
years  he  had  tasted  the  sweetness  of  power;  he  found 
it  agreeable,  and  only  with  life  would  he  part  with  his 
authority.  In  his  last  years  he  became  infirm,  and  it 
was  impossible  for  him  to  do  the  work  which  devolved 
upon  the  chief  minister  of  a  great  kingdom,  but  he 
would  delegate  no  authority,  he  was  jealous  of  any 
*  Mem  de  Belle  Isle,  v. 


234  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

division  of  power;  though  his  hands  were  trembling, 
never  for  one  moment  would  he  relinquish  their  hold 
upon  the  reins  of  state. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1742,  it  became  plain  that  in 
the  long  contest  between  death  and  the  cardinal,  the 
victory  of  the  former  could  not  be  much  longer  de- 
layed. The  old  man's  sight  was  dim  and  his  hearing 
was  dull;  one  day  the  end  would  seem  at  hand,  and 
he  would  prepare  to  receive  the  viaticmn;  on  the 
next  he  would  revive  and  preside  at  a  meeting  of  the 
council,  though  his  mind  was  as  dull  as  his  physical 
vision.  "The  cardinal  is  like  a  candle,"  wrote  an 
observer,  "which  flickers  up  just  as  it  seems  about 
to  go  out,  but  each  time  with  less  force."  ^  Every 
symptom  was  critically  watched  by  a  court  where 
almost  all  were  impatient  for  the  end  to  come.  "To- 
day he  is  taking  goat's  milk,"  writes  one,  "but  goat's 
milk  is  of  no  use  for  old  men." 

Public  business  was  almost  suspended  during  the 
weeks  that  Fleury  lay  between  life  and  death.  "  The 
cardinal  is  dying,"  wrote  the  Prussian  minister,  "and 
the  king  will  decide  nothing  while  he  lives ;  the  min- 
isters will  give  no  directions  in  matters  of  importance 
lest  the  cardinal  should  be  offended;  everything  re- 
mains in  suspense."^  The  people  wearied  of  this 
long  death  agony.  "The  public  is  beginning  to  be 
impatient,"  writes  a  chronicler,  "that  the  cardinal  is 
so  long  about  dying.  "^  On  the  29th  of  January, 
1743,  the  end  came.  "At  last  the  cardinal  is  dead," 
was  the  expression  on  every  lip.^     He  'was  in  his 

*  Letters  of  Tencin  and  Broglie,  December  and  January. 
'  Chambrier  to  Frederick,  November  26,  1742. 

'  Journal  de  Police,  January  20,  1743. 

*  ArgensoD,  January  30,  1743. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  235 

ninetieth  year,  and  for  seventeen  years  he  had  been 
the  ruler  of  France. 

In  vigor  of  intellect,  Fleury  was  inferior  to  the 
three  cardinals  who,  within  a  century,  had  held  the 
same  office  and  exercised  an  equal  authority;  he  did 
not  possess  the  original  genius  nor  the  dauntless  reso- 
lution of  Richelieu;  in  skill  of  political  combination, 
in  acuteness  of  political  foresight,  he  was  not  the 
equal  of  Mazarin;  far  superior  to  Dubois  in  charac- 
ter, he  was  his  inferior  in  intellectual  acumen.  Yet 
if  a  man  is  entitled  to  be  called  a  great  statesman 
who  exercises  power  with  judgment,  with  justice, 
with  a  sincere  desire  for  the  welfare  of  the  people, 
Fleury  should  receive  that  meed  of  praise.  In  a  day 
when  corruption  was  common,  he  kept  his  hands  clean 
from  unjust  gains;  he  was  fond  of  power,  but  he 
was  not  selfish  in  his  use  of  it.  Kichelieu,  Mazarin, 
and  Colbert  had  used  the  resources  of  the  state  to 
indulge  in  a  magnificent  pomp:  they  had  built  pal- 
aces, they  had  accumulated  great  estates,  they  had 
left  great  fortunes.  Fleury  showed  the  elevation  of 
his  mind  in  regarding  such  things  as  of  small  impor- 
tance. No  one  was  more  indifferent  to  spectacular 
display,  to  those  external  insignia  of  power  which 
please  the  vain  and  impress  the  vulgar.  He  could 
have  had  surroundings  more  splendid  than  those  of 
Richelieu,  and  have  accumulated  a  fortune  larger  than 
that  of  Mazarin :  he  chose  to  lead  a  life  of  extreme 
simplicity.  He  gave  freely  to  charity,  and  died,  com- 
paratively speaking,  a  poor  man.^ 

When  we  consider  his  administration,  it  must  be 
pronounced,  for  the  most  part,  wise  and  beneficial ;  if 
the  condition  of  the  people  did  not  show  marked 
1  Mem.  de  Luynes,  iv.  401. 


/ 


236  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

improvement,  yet  on  the  whole  it  was  ameliorated, 
and  the  cardinal  sought  to  secure  for  them  the  great- 
est of  blessings,  the  blessing  of  peace.  He  was  avari- 
cious in  his  care  of  the  public  expenditure,  but  such 
avarice  is  a  virtue  in  a  ruler ;  he  established  order  in 
the  finances;  he  stopped  the  frequent  depreciations  of 
the  currency,  which  for  centuries  had  checked  busi- 
ness development ;  he  helped  to  prepare  the  way  for 
a  great  increase  in  wealth  and  commercial  activity. 
He  had  no  taste  for  war,  yet  by  adroit  diplomacy  he 
secured  for  his  country  a  valuable  addition  of  terri- 
tory; if  he  did  not  increase  the  influence  of  France 
as  did  Richelieu,  nor  enlarge  her  boundaries  as  much 
as  Mazarin,  the  acquisition  of  Lorraine  was  due  to 
his  judicious  policy;  it  added  to  the  strength  of 
France,  and  it  promoted  the  well-being  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  that  provipce;  the  annexation  made  France 
greater  and  Lorraine  happier. 

It  was  unfortunate  for  Fleury's  fame  that  he  lived 
so  long.  The  participation  of  France  in  the  war  of 
the  Austrian  Succession  was  the  great  mistake,  it 
may  be  called  the  great  crime,  of  his  administration ; 
if  we  recognize  the  good  judgment  which  saw  the 
folly  of  such  a  course,  we  must  condemn  the  weakness 
that  consented  to  it.  The  close  of  Fleury's  life  pre- 
sented a  melancholy  spectacle.  It  was  a  sad  sight  to 
see  the  old  man  dying  by  inches,  weak  in  body,  infirm 
in  purpose;  acquiescing  sadly  in  a  policy  of  which 
he  disapproved ;  clinging  to  a  power  which  he  could 
no  longer  exercise;  surrounded  by  men  who  watched 
with  eagerness  his  increasing  cough,  his  tottering 
step,  his  blurred  eye ;  with  physicians  bringing  drugs 
that  could  be  of  no  avail,  and  priests  waiting  to  ad- 
minister the  last  rites  to  one  reluctant  to  receive  them ; 


JTHE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  237 

while  the  ministers  of  state  sat  idly  by  their  portfo- 
lios, and  the  king  came  weeping  from  the  sick  man's 
chamber,  and  went  away  to  seek  consolation  from 
Mme.  de  la  Tournelle.  But  if  we  consider  Fleury's 
life  and  career  as  a  whole,  we  must  place  him  among 
those  who  have  well  served  their  country  and  are 
entitled  to  its  gratitude. 

The  rule  of  Fleury  had  for  some  time  been  weak 
and  fluctuating;  it  was  succeeded  by  administrative 
anarchy.  The  king  sought  to  imitate  Louis  XIV., 
and  declared  that  in  the  future  he  would  have  no 
prime  minister,  but  would  himself  control  his  govern- 
ment. Seventeen  years  before  he  had  made  the  same 
announcement,  but  it  had  proved  only  a  form  of 
words,  for  Fleury  became  prime  minister,  in  fact  if 
not  in  name.  The  second  announcement  was  in  part 
verified,  for  no  minister  succeeded  to  Fleury's  power; 
but  the  king  did  not  perform  his  promise  and  exer- 
cise a  personal  control  over  the  administration.  He 
imitated  Louis  XIV.  in  having  no  head  to  the 
government  except  the  king,  but,  as  he  failed  to  act 
in  that  capacity  himself,  the  government  was  left  with 
no  head  at  all.  For  a  while,  indeed,  Louis  attended 
the  councils  of  his  ministers,  and  seemed  to  interest 
himself  in  the  affairs  of  the  state.  These  attempts 
at  personal  rule  were  welcomed  by  the  people;  the^ 
French  liked  a  king  who  governed ;  no  faineant  mon- 
arch was  ever  popular  among  them,  and  the  belief  was 
still  strong  that  the  king  himself  coidd  do  no  wrong, 
that  he  was  wise  and  just,  and  the  evils  of  government 
were  due  to  the  ministers,  and  not  to  the  sovereign. 

Louis  XV.  soon  wearied  of  the  role  which  he  had 
undertaken.     It  was  not  because  he  was  unequal  to  - 
the  task;    in  intelligence  he  was  superior  to  Louis 


238  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV.. 

XIV. :  when  he  discussed  political  questions  his  re- 
marks often  showed  unusual  sagacity;  he  saw  the 
true  policy  to  be  pursued  at  the  death  of  Charles  VI., 
though  he  was  too  indifferent  to  overrule  the  brawlers 
who  cried  for  war ;  he  pointed  out  the  evils  of  some 
of  the  ruinous  treaties  to  which  France  became  a 
party,  —  but  on  all  sucji  occasions  he  contented  him- 
self with  criticism ;  if  his  ministers  saw  fit  to  commit 
follies,  he  would  not  stand  in  their  way. 

The  details  of  administration,  the  monotonous 
work,  the  long  sessions  at  the  council  table,  spent  in 
listening  to  prosy  ministers,  —  all  this  bored  him,  and 
vlie  did  not  care  enough  for  the  interests  of  the  state 
to  subject  himself  to  such  annoyances;  indifference 
to  everything  except  his  own  amusement  was  the  be- 
setting sin  of  Louis  XV.  "Nothing  affects  him  in 
the  council,"  wrote  Tencin.  "He  appears  to  be  ab- 
solutely indifferent.  .  .  .  He  signs  unread  whatever 
is  presented  to  him.  One  is  paralyzed  by  the  little 
interest  the  king  takes,  and  by  the  profound  silence 
he  observes."^  Apathy  was  the  foimdation  of  his 
character,  said  another  minister;  he  was  incapable  of 
love  or  hate.'^ 

When  the  king  would  give  no  orders,  each  minister 
was  left  to  administer  his  department  in  accordance 
with  his  own  notions.  Four  ministers,  said  Luynes, 
divided  among  them  the  power  of  Fleury,  and  the 
only  question  on  which  they  agreed  was  the  exclusion 
from  the  council  of  every  one  of  whose  influence  they 
were  jealous.^     As  no  one  will  controlled  them,  they 

1  letters  of  Tencin,  June  20,  Axigust  29,  October  3,  1743. 
'  Count  of  Argenson,  cited  by  Tencin,  September  16,  1743; 
Mem.  de  Tencin,  October  10,  174J3. 
'  Mem.  de  Luynes,  July,  1743. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  239 

were  often  at  variance  and  their  disputes  became 
rancorous;  at  some  of  tlie  councils,  said  one  who  was 
a  member  of  them,  the  debates  were  so  violent  that 
one  could  not  have  heard  the  thunder  of  the  Almighty 
amid  the  din.^ 

The  king's  unwillingness  to  be  annoyed  affected 
the  choice  of  his  ministers.  Earlier  in  the  reign 
Chauvelin  had  shown  such  ability  that  he  excited 
Fleury's  jealousy  and  was  summarily  dismissed.  He 
was  long  regarded  as  the  man  most  likely  to  fill  the 
cardinal's  place,  but  he  was  never  recalled  to  office. 
An  injudicious  letter  offended  the  king,  but  it  was 
said  at  court,  and  probably  with  truth,  that  what 
really  excluded  him  from  the  royal  coimcils  was 
Louis's  aversion  to  his  manners.  Chauvelin  was 
given  to  pleasantries,  his  talk  was  familiar,  his  voice 
was  loud,  and  in  such  matters  the  king  was  finical: 
he  was  annoyed  by  any  one  who  lacked  the  ease  of 
good  breeding,  the  graceful  bow,  the  well-attuned 
voice,  the  discreet  and  ready  answer,  which  were 
found  in  the  perfect  courtier,  and  no  skill  in  affairs 
atoned  for  manners  that  were  disagreeable. 

The  men  who  occupied  places  in  the  council  after 
Fleury's  death  were  none  of  them  persons  of  great 
ability.  Frederick  said  that  the  finances  were  in- 
trusted to  a  captain  of  dragoons,  the  department  of 
war  to  an  attorney,  and  foreign  affairs  to  a  man  who 
imitated  Fleury  as  a  hunchback  might  imitate  the 
jyremiere  danseuse  of  the  ballet.  If  the  criticism  was 
harsh,  it  was  not  without  justification.  Orry,  who  had 
been  a  captain  of  cavalry,  had  charge  of  the  finances, 
—  a  man  of  large  experience  and  of  moderate  parts. 
Amelot,  the  secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  displeased 
1  Argenson  to  Broglie,  May  13,  1743. 


240  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

the  public  by  his  timidity  and  the  king  by  his  stut- 
tering, and  he  was  presently  dismissed.  Argenson, 
though  he  had  been  bred  to  the  law,  was  a  creditable 
secretary  of  war;  less  could  be  said  in  favor  of  the 
Count  of  Maurepas,  who  had  been  made  a  secretary 
of  state  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  now  had  charge 
of  the  navy.  Maurepas  was  celebrated  for  his  wit, 
for  his  literary  collections,  and  for  his  scandalous 
epigrams,  but  though  he  knew  much  of  many  things, 
he  knew  little  of  the  department  of  which  he  was  the 
head. 

The  ablest  man  among  the  ministers  was  Cardinal 
^Tencin.  A  proteg^  of  Dubois,  he  had  secured  his 
promotion  to  the  cardinalate  by  the  methods  employed 
by  his  patron;  his  moral  character  was  hopelessly 
bad,  but  he  was  a  man  of  intelligence  and  capacity. 
His  early  success  in  life  he  owed  to  his  sister,  and 
her  character  deserves  some  attention  as  illustrating 
the  curious  social  conditions  which  prevailed  in  the 
age  of  Louis  XV.  Beginning  life  at  a  convent,  she 
fled  from  it  and  renounced  her  vows,  and  for  many 
years  led  a  life  as  brilliant  as  it  was  immoral.  It 
was  on  account  of  her  charms,  as  was  said,  that  her 
brother  found  favor  with  Cardinal  Dubois,  and  the 
famous  Alembert  was  her  illegitimate  child.  Yet, 
notwithstanding  a  career  in  which  there  was  not  even 
a  pretense  of  virtue,  the  talents,  the  conversation, 
the  address  of  Mme.  de  Tencin  gained  her  a  recog- 
nized position  in  society;  as  years  went  on  her  con- 
duct became  more  discreet,  and  her  salon  was  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  in  Paris.  She  was  a  power  at 
court  and  in  literature;  she  was  consulted  in  political 
intrigues ;  she  helped  to  make  and  mar  literary  reputa- 
tions, and  if  her  own  books  were  of  such  a  character 


THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES   VII .  241 

that  she  did  not  openly  acknowledge  them,  they  were 
none  the  less  read. 

The  brother  was  like  the  sister.  An  archbishop 
and  a  cardinal,  his  ecclesiastical  dignities  did  not 
prevent  his  becoming  a  close  ally  of  the  Duke  of 
Richelieu,  the  nobleman  who  took  charge  of  the  in- 
trigues of  the  back  stairs. 

Such  intrigues,  unfortunately,  it  was  impossible  to 
neglect  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  At  Ver- 
sailles, as  at  some  oriental  court,  a  revolution  of  the 
seraglio  often  affected  the  destinies  of  the  state. 
Whether  Chateauroux  or  Pompadour  or  Du  Barry 
was  the  king's  mistress  was  of  more  political  impor- 
tance than  whether  Tencin  or  Bernis  or  Choiseul  was 
the  king's  minister;  indeed,  the  choice  of  the  latter 
was  often  due  to  the  caprice  of  the  former. 

It  was  not  until  1742  that  affairs  of  this  nature 
assumed  a  political  character,  and  the  Duchess  of 
Chateauroux  was  the  first  of  the  favorites  who  sought 
to  rule  the  kingdom.  Louis  had  already  chosen  two 
mistresses  from  the  noble  house  of  Nesle,  but  one 
of  the  sisters  died,  and  Mme.  de  Mailly,  the  next  in 
order,  had  little  beauty  and  less  sprightliness.  The 
king  had  been  attracted  to  her  because  she  was  thrown 
in  his  way ;  he  now  wearied  of  his  choice,  and  declared 
his  weariness  with  the  discourteous  frankness  that 
was  habitual  with  him.  "That  woman  has  bored  me 
for  a  year,"  he  said,  "and  that  is  quite  enough." 

Another  member  of  the  family  was  ready  for  the 
succession.  Mme.  de  la  Tournelle  was  a  younger 
sister,  and  was  now  twenty -five.  She  was  beautiful, 
brilliant,  and  ambitious,  and  such  a  woman  could  ex- 
ercise a  large  influence  upon  the  king.  In  England, 
aspiring  politicians  would  have  intrigued  for  the  ele- 


242  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

vation  of  a  minister;  in  France,  Richelieu  and  his 
associates  devoted  their  energies  to  the  selection  of 
a  friendly  mistress.  The  first  step  was  to  bring  the 
future  favorite  to  Versailles,  and  even  this  was  not 
altogether  easy.  Though  the  palace  was  large,  the 
number  of  noblemen  and  dignitaries  desiring  quarters 
in  it  was  still  larger.  There  was  difficulty  in  finding 
a  place  for  a  new-comer,  but  Richelieu  was  equal  to 
the  task.  It  was  with  especial  pleasure  that  a  disci- 
ple of  Voltaire  found  a  bishop  ready  to  assist  in 
so  edifying  an  intrigue.  Mme.  de  la  Tournelle  was 
established  in  the  quarters  assigned  to  the  Bishop  of 
Rennes,  and  the  king  and  his  adviser  there  visited 
her,  disguised  as  physicians,  in  order  to  escape  the 
notice  of  the  court.  ^ 

No  disguise  was  necessary  to  save  the  susceptibili- 
ties of  the  new  favorite.  She  was  not  a  woman  to  be 
led  from  virtue  by  any  transient  passion ;  she  made 
her  bargain  with  as  much  precision  as  the  most  care- 
ful merchant  of  the  city,  and  was  entirely  willing  that 
it  shoidd  be  known. 

Mme.  de  la  Tournelle  demanded  a  separate  estab- 
lishment, of  which  the  expenses  should  be  paid,  be- 
sides thirty  thousand  livres  a  month  for  servants  and 
dress  and  gambling,  and  she  said  that  she  must  be 
made  a  duchess.  Moreover,  royal  lovers  were  fickle, 
and  this  practical  lady  provided  for  every  emergency ; 
in  the  diplomatic  language  which  she  used,  "when  she 
retired,"  she  was  to  receive  a  pension  of  twenty -five 
thousand  livres. ^  Her  demands  were  acceded  to;  the 
price  was  paid,  and  the  rank  was  bestowed.  "The 
position  of  mistress  of  the  king,"  said  a  satirist,  "is 

'  Mem.  de  Brancas,  61  et  pas. 

*  See  papers  cited  in  Broglie's  Frederic  II.  et  Louis  XV. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES    VII.  243 

now  a  dignity ;  one  says  to  her,  '  the  position  to  which 
you  have  been  elevated ;  '  she  replies,  '  the  position 
which  I  occupy.'  "  ^ 

When  we  read  the  details  of  this  amazing  bargain, 
we  think  it  must  be  some  common  prostitute  who 
thus  haggles  over  the  price  of  her  dishonor.  Far 
from  it;  the  family  of  Nesle  was  ancient,  if  not  illus- 
trious, and  its  place  in  the  French  nobility  could  not 
be  disputed.  The  future  mistress  was  the  daughter 
of  a  marquis ;  the  lover  was  a  king ;  the  details  of  the 
bargain  were  arranged  by  a  duke;  the  intrigue  was 
favored  by  a  cardinal  and  furthered  by  a  bishop; 
such  a  negotiation,  conducted  by  the  most  distin- 
guished members  of  the  aristocracy  and  approved  by 
the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  church,  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  moral  condition  of  the  upper  classes  under 
Louis  XV. 

It  was  an  established  usage  of  this  extraordinary 
era  that  the  king's  mistress  should  become  one  of  the 
ladies  in  waiting  on  the  king's  wife.  Marie  Leszczyn- 
ski  was  long-suffering,  but  the  publicity  and  the  scan- 
dal of  this  new  selection  overcame  even  her  patience. 
"She  looks  very  black,"  the  favorite  wrote  gleefully 
lo  Richelieu.  "By  the  law  of  the  game  this  is  the 
privilege  of  those  who  lose."^ 

In  the  following  year  Mme.  de  la  Tournelle  was 
snade  Duchess  of  Chateauroux,  and  received  a  domain 
yielding  eighty -five  thousand  livres  a  year.  "A  j)ro- 
motion  due,"  so  said  the  letters  patent  of  Louis  XV., 
^'not  oidy  to  the  services  rendered  to  the  crown  by 
^er  illustrious  family,  but  to  the  qualities  of  heart 
she  lias  displayed  since  she  has  been  attached  to  the 

'  Cited  In  Journal  d'Argenxon. 

^  Letter  cited  by  Broglie,  Frederic  II.  et  Louis  X  V. 


244  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

queeD,  our  dear  spouse,  and  which  have  secured  for 
her  universal  esteem."  The  Duke  of  Richelieu  and 
the  Duchess  of  Chateauroux  are  not  edifying  charac- 
ters to  study ;  but  they  exercised  a  considerable  influ- 
ence upon  the  king  of  France;  the  steps  which  he 
took  mider  their  guidance  helped  to  weaken  monar- 
chical traditions  among  the  French  people,  and  they 
must  not  be  disregarded  in  considering  the  events 
which  prepared  the  way  for  a  social  revolution. 

While  the  attention  of  Versailles  was  occupied  with 
the  choice  of  a  mistress  and  the  death  of  a  cardinal, 
the  war  continued  its  course.  The  retreat  from 
Prague  had  saved  the  relics  of  an  army,  and  fortune 
had  been  so  unfavorable  that  even  this  escape  from 
calamity  was  received  with  thankfulness.^  But  the 
condition  of  affairs  in  the  spring  of  1743  was  far 
different  from  what  it  had  been  when  eighty  thousand 
French  soldiers  crossed  the  Rhine  to  overawe  the 
electoral  diet,  and  assist  in  the  dismemberment  of  the 
Austrian  empire.  The  French  would  now  have  been 
glad  to  make  peace,  if  the  emperor  of  their  choice 
could  have  been  assured  the  enjoyment  of  his  dignity 
and  of  his  hereditary  possessions,  abandoning  all 
claims  on  those  of  Maria  Theresa ;  they  would  have 
gained  nothing  by  three  years  of  war  except  an  empty 
dignity  for  a  friend,  which  on  his  death  would  surely 
revert  to  the  House  of  Austria.  It  was  impossible  to 
obtain  peace  even  on  these  terms.  The  English  were 
now  heartily  engaged  in  the  war;  with  their  own 
soldiers,  and  the  Hanoverians  and  Hessians  in  their 
pay,  they  had  forty  thousand  men  in  the  field,  and 
they  furnished  ^laria  Theresa  a  subsidy  of  three  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds.  Carteret  was  eager  for  war, 
1  Dis.  Ven.,  t.  2M,  50. 


THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES   VI I.  245 

and  seconded  the  desires  of  George  II.  The  com- 
mand of  the  English  army  was  given  to  Stair,  and 
he  assured  the  Austrian  ministers  that  now  was  the 
moment  to  destroy  forever  the  ascendency  of  France 
on  the  Continent ;  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  with  parts  of 
Burgundy  and  Artois,  must  be  taken  from  the  offend- 
ing nation  and  divided  between  Austria  and  the  em- 
peror.^ In  his  memoirs  Frederick  has  ridiculed  Belle 
Isle  for  his  perplexities  as  to  the  proper  disposition 
of  some  of  the  territories  to  be  taken  from  Maria 
Theresa.  Lord  Stair  seems  to  have  been  equally 
uncertain  what  to  do  with  the  various  provinces  of 
which  France  was  now  to  be  despoiled. 

While  Maria  Theresa  was  eager  to  wreak  her  ven- 
geance on  all  her  enemies,  the  English  were  ready  to 
grant  reasonable  terms  to  the  emperor,  who  was  only 
a  political  cipher.  Such  views  were  not  acceptable 
to  their  ally.  When  the  English  talked  of  attacking 
France,  Maria  Theresa  agreed  with  them,  and  when 
they  advised  granting  terms  to  the  emperor,  she 
abused  them  as  faint-hearted  and  false  to  their  agi-ee- 
ment.  Among  all  the  rulers  of  Europe  no  one  waa 
more  relentless,  more  indifferent  to  the  waste  of  hu- 
man life  or  the  increase  of  public  misery,  than  the 
queen  of  Hungary;  in  adversity,  she  was  a  sublime 
figure,  but  when  pursuing  her  vengeance  or  her  ambi- 
tion, she  was  as  harsh  and  stubborn  as  Elizabeth  of 
Spain.  Her  English  allies,  she  complained,  had 
already  forced  her  to  surrender  Silesia  to  obtain  peace 
from  Frederick,  and  they  now  insisted  that  she  should 
sacrifice  further  territory  to  obtain  the  aid  of  Charles 
Emmanuel ;  but  if  these  lukewarm  friends  compelled 

1  Stair  to  Kiiiiigsegg,  July  16,  1742;  Ref.  Sec,  June  17,  1742, 
cited  in  Arneth,  Maria  Theresia,  t.  ii. 


246  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

her  to  build  up  the  power  of  the  rival  houses  of 
Brandenburg  and  Sardinia,  France  must  furnish  the 
compensation  as  a  penalty  for  having  started  this 
iniquitous  war.  As  for  the  emperor,  she  declared 
that  if  he  was  no  longer  formidable,  he  was  none  the 
less  blamable;  she  refused  to  recognize  his  title, 
and  would  grant  him  no  terms  unless  he  proved  his 
repentance  by  declaring  war  upon  France.^  If  he 
would  do  that,  and  surrender  Bavaria  to  her,  the 
allies  might  be  willing  to  conquer  for  him  some 
French  provinces. 

The  French  were  now  anxious  to  abandon  Germany 
and  concentrate  their  forces,  in  order  to  repel  the  in- 
vasion with  which  their  own  country  was  threatened ; 
having  started  a  war  to  dismember  the  Austrian  em- 
pire, they  had  now  to  continue  it  to  save  their  own 
land  from  dismemberment. 

Though  it  was  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  sustain 
their  army  in  Bavaria,  yet  its  withdrawal  would  leave 
their  unfortunate  ally,  the  emperor,  in  grievous  plight. 
He  could  not  defend  himself  against  the  Austrians ; 
he  would  remain  an  exile  from  his  hereditary  domin- 
ions, a  fugitive  dependent  on  the  charity  of  friends. 
It  was  natural  that  he  should  protest  bitterly  against 
such  a  policy.  "I  see  myself,"  wrote  the  unfortunate 
sovereign  to  Louis  XV.,  "despoiled  of  all  my  states, 
obliged  to  wander  from    asylum   to   asylum    in    the 

idst  of  tliat  empire  of  which  I  am  the  cliief."^ 
Charles  VII.  had  already  been  chased  from  Munich, 
and  had  found  shelter  in  the  free  city  of  Frankfort, 
the  nominal  capital  of  the  shadowy  empire  of  which 
he  was  -the  head.     So  entirely  had  real  power  been 

1   Tagehuch  KarVs  VII.,  72-79  ;  Arnctli,  t.  ii. 
3  Charles  VU.  to  Louis  XV.,  June  21,  1743. 


^, 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  247 

stripped  from  his  office  that  the  successor  of  Charle- 
magne and  Otto  the  Great  could  not  command  from 
all  the  states  which  owed  him  allegiance  enough 
money  to  pay  his  valets,  or  enough  soldiers  to  form  a 
body-guard.  His  jewels  and  his  furniture  were  mort- 
gaged, and  he  tried  in  vain  to  obtain  a  further  loan 
on  their  security :  so  deplorable  was  the  condition  of 
a  man  who  nominally  was  the  most  exalted  sover- 
eign in  Christendom.  He  would  be  "aut  Caesar,  aut 
nihil,"  said  the  wits;  "he  is  '  et  Caesar  et  nihil.'  "^ 
Some  time  before,  he  sought  to  borrow  six  million 
florins  from  Frederick  II.,  and  offered  Bohemia  as 
security.  Nothing  annoyed  that  thrifty  monarch  so 
much  as  a  demand  for  money,  and  he  did  not  regard 
the  emperor's  title  to  Bohemia  as  satisfactory  security 
for  a  loan.  When  Frederick  stated  his  reasons  for 
abandoning  his  allies,  he  noted  one  which  undoubtedly 
influenced  his  mind, — "The  effrontery  of  the  emperor 
and  of  the  French  in  asking  a  loan  of  six  million 
florins  from  me  without  security."^ 

With  better  success  Charles  applied  to  France  for 
help,  and  the  French,  having  elected  a  phantom  em- 
peror, were  now  obliged  to  support  him.  But  while 
they  were  willing  to  dole  out  money  for  his  necessities, 
they  were  unable  to  hold  Bavaria,  and  they  would 
have  been  jsleased  if  their  ally,  who  had  become  a 
burden,  could  have^  obtained  peace  on  reasonable 
terms.  We  are  content  you  should  make  peace  on 
any  terms  you  can  get,  they  told  him  in  substance,  so 
long  as  you  do  not  become  the  enemy  of  France.^  But 
Maria  Theresa  would  concede  him  nothing  unless  he 
would  declare  war  on  France,  and  even  then  would 

1  Barbier,  iii.  360.  »  Cor.  Pol,  iii.  100. 

s  Tagebuch,  91. 


248  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

concede  very  little,  while  Charles  was  unable  to  resign 
the  dreams  of  greatness  in  which  he  had  so  long  in- 
dulged. 

When  Belle  Isle  was  on  his  way  home  from  Prague, 
he  was  ordered  to  stop  at  Frankfort,  to  prepare  the 
emperor  for  the  possibility  of  the  abandonment  of 
Bavaria  by  the  French  army,  and  to  incline  him  to 
moderate  his  ambitious  expectations.  "No  one  can 
soften  this  advice  better  than  you,"  the  minister 
wrote  the  marshal.  It  was  a  melancholy  meeting. 
When  they  had  parted  months  before,  Charles  was 
exulting  in  the  ineffable  grandeur  with  which  he  felt 
himself  invested,  and  Belle  Isle  was  confident  of  the 
full  success  of  his  plans  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
House  of  Austria.  Now  Charles  was  a  needy  fugitive, 
and  it  was  Belle  Isle's  unpleasant  duty  to  advise  the 
abandonment  of  all  hopes  of  any  share  in  the  succes- 
sion of  Maria  Theresa.  The  emperor  was  suffering 
in  body  as  well  as  mind,  for  he  was  terribly  afflicted 
by  the  gout.  He  told  Belle  Isle  of  all  his  woes :  so 
impoverished  was  he,  that  even  the  tradespeople  and 
furnishers  would  give  him  no  more  credit;  nothing 
remained  for  him,  he  said,  but  to  abdicate  and  hide 
his  misery  from  the  world.^  "In  this  year,"  writes 
Charles  in  his  journal,  "I  have  found  the  inconsis- 
tency of  fortune  and  greatness.  The  year  had  but 
one  fortunate  day,  —  the  one  op  which  I  was  elected 
emperor."  2  He  might  have  said  more  truly  that  that 
day  was  of  all  the  year  the  most  unfortimate,  for  his 
elevation  had  brought  in  its  train  the  misfortunes 
from  which  he  suffered. 

The  French  helped  their  needy  protege  to  pay  his 

1  MSS.  Mem.  de  Belle  Isle,  v.  350^355. 

2  Tagebuch,  74. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES    VII.  249 

servants  and  his  grocers.  "  I  could  not  resist  giving 
him  at  least  enough  to  keep  him  from  dying  of  hun- 
ger," wrote  Noailles  a  few  months  later,  but  they 
pursued  their  plans  for  the  abandonment  of  Bavaria.^ 
The  emperor  remonstrated  in  vain.  His  misfortunes 
had  taught  him  little;  at  the  first  gleam  of  success 
he  fancied  himself  returning  in  triumph  to  Munich,  , 
with  Bohemia  added  to  his  dominions  and  his  son 
chosen  king  of  the  Romans.^  On  the  other  hand,  in 
the  withdrawal  of  the  French  troops  from  Bavaria  he 
saw  himself  banished  from  Munich,  and  doomed  to 
a  needy  and  precarious  existence  at  Frankfort. 

Louis  tried  to  evade  the  remonstrances  of  his  ally 
by  sending  ambiguous  instructions  to  Broglie,  but  the 
marshal  pursued  his  plans  for  evacuation,  and  in 
June,  1743,  he  marched  away  from  Bavaria.^  Never 
had  such  a  case  of  desertion  been  known,  wrote 
Charles;  it  was  a  sad  fate  for  an  emperor.*  Aban- 
doned by  his  French  allies,  he  now  declared  himself 
neutral,  and  he  was  willing  to  relinquish  all  claims  on 
the  Austrian  succession  if  he  could  again  rule  tran- 
quilly  in  his  beloved  Bavaria.^  He  agreed  to  these 
concessions  the  more  willingly  because  his  confessor 
assured   him  that  he  was  acting  under  duress  and 

1  Noailles  to  king,  July  8,  1743. 

»  Mem.  de  Belle  Isle  ;  Tagebuch,  73,  96,  127,  etc. 

*  This  movement  was  held  to  be  contrary  to  his  orders,  and 
Broglie  was  retired  from  his  command  for  disobedience.  But 
the  ambiguity  of  his  instructions  justified  almost  any  step  on 
which  he  might  have  decided,  and  there  is  no  doubt  his  superiors 
were  glad  to  have  Bavaria  abandoned.  See  the  voluminous 
correspondence  between  Broglie  and  the  war  department  for 
1743. 

*  Tagebuch,  91. 
6  lb.,  96. 


250  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

could  lawfully  retract  what  he  now  yielded,  and  again 
assert  his  rights,  whenever  the  opportunity  offered.^ 
Charles  kept  faith  better  than  most  of  his  brother 
monarehs,  but  after  all  he  belonged  to  his  century. 
It  is  hard  to  say  what  could  constitute  an  agreement 
that  would  be  regarded  as  binding  at  this  era ;  if  a 
treaty  was  distasteful,  neither  monarch,  nor  statesman, 
nor  priest  hesitated  to  declare  it  void  when  circum- 
stances had  changed,  and  we  find  no  difference  in  this 
code  of  morals  between  the  rulers  who  had  the  most 
accommodating  of  Jesuit  confessors  and  those  who 
professed  the  most  advanced  free  thought;  the  prin- 
ciples of  public  faith  in  Europe  at  this  period  did 
not  differ  from  those  which  are  held  by  the  savages 
of  Ashantee  or  Dahomey. 

No  peace  could  be  made  on  any  terms.  Carteret 
tried  to  befriend  the  vagrant  emperor,  but  he  could 
not  soothe  the  relentless  animosity  of  Maria  Theresa. 
Charles  was  not  allowed  to  return  to  Munich.  The 
Austrians  subjected  the  unfortunate  Bavarians  to 
excessive  taxation,  and  compelled  them  to  take  an 
oath  of  allegiance  to  Maria  Theresa.  "This  is  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  the  empire,"  wrote  Charles,  who 
believed  the  empire  was  still  a  reality  and  not  a  fic- 
tion; "a  member  who  fails  to  recognize  the  rights 
of  its  chief  should  be  regarded  as  a  rebel  and  put 
under  the  ban."^  But  the  ban  of  the  empire  in  the 
eighteenth  century  was  more  harmless  than  the  ban 
of  the  church.  "In  this  century,"  added  Charles, 
"they  make  a  mock  of  all  that  is  most  sacred  in  the 
world."  3 

Domestic  losses  were  added  to  his  misfortunes;  a 
daughter  whom  he  dearly  loved  died  of  smallpox,  he 

»  Tagebuch,  06,  97.  »  lb.,  99.  «  lb.,  136. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES    VII.  251 

was  separated  from  his  family;  in  all  Europe  there 
was  probably  no  more  unhappy  man  than  the  succes- 
sor of  Charlemagne.  An  emperor  without  an  empire 
and  a  sovereign  without  subjects,  his  fate  excites  our 
sympathy  when  we  consider  his  kindly  and  honorable 
nature;  we  feel  that  it  was  not  wholly  undeserved 
when  we  reflect  upon  the  weakness  of  his  character, 
the  infirmity  of  his  purpose,  and  the  mediocrity  of  his 
intelligence. 

While  Broglie  was  preparing  to  abandon  the  em- 
peror to  his  fate,  the  English,  Hanoverians,  and 
Austrians,  forty-five  thousand  strong,  advanced  to- 
wards the  Rhine.  Like  most  allied  armies,  they  suf- 
fered from  divided  counsels,  and  they  finally  en- 
camped at  Aschaffenburg  on  the  Main,  in  a  position 
which  was  difficult  to  attack,  but  from  which  it  was 
equally  difficult  to  escape.  When  provisions  became 
scarce,  they  left  their  camp  and  started  to  march 
along  the  stream  and  make  their  way  through  Dettin- 
gen  to  Hanau.  The  French  were  under  the  com- 
mand of  Noailles,  and  this  was  the  opportunity  for 
which  he  had  waited ;  the  enemy  had  to  move  through 
a  narrow  plain  surrounded  by  hills,  and  the  only 
practicable  outlet  was  by  Dettingen.  In  this  town 
Noailles  stationed  twenty-four  thousand  men  under 
the  Duke  of  Gramont,  with  instructions  to  hold  their 
position  and  content  themselves  with  repelling  any 
assault,  while  the  batteries  from  the  other  side  of  the 
river  would  play  upon  the  enemy  as  they  advanced 
along  the  stream.  Noailles  had  taken  possession  of 
Aschaffenburg  as  the  English  left  it,  and  he  proposed 
to  attack  them  in  the  rear ;  the  allies  were  hedged  in : 
it  seemed  doubtful  if  they  could  escape  without  serious 
loss,  and  the  French  even  hoped  they  might  be  forced 


252  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

to  surrender.  The  tactics  of  Noailles  received  the 
commendation  of  the  highest  authority  in  Europe. 
"It  was,"  said  Frederick,  "a  plan  worthy  of  a  great 
captain."  It  failed,  not  from  any  brilliant  inspiration 
on  the  part  of  the  enemy,  for  there  was  not  in  the 
allied  army  a  general  above  mediocrity,  but  from  a 
cause  which  cost  the  French  many  a  victory,  —  the 
recklessness  and  insubordination  of  their  officers. 

The  battle  began  on  June  27,  1743,  and  for  a  while 
all  went  well.  Noailles  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  en- 
emy; from  across  the  river  batteries  did  good  execu- 
tion, and  the  allies  made  slow  progress  in  extricating 
themselves  from  their  difficulties.  But  the  Duke  of 
Gramont,  who  commanded  the  forces  at  Dettingen, 
was  a  young  man  who  owed  his  military  position  to 
his  rank,  and  not  to  any  experience  in  the  field ;  he 
had  no  qualities  which  fitted  him  for  command,  and 
he  had  the  defect  that  made  many  a  French  nobleman 
a  danger  to  the  army  in  which  he  served,  —  he  was 
impatient  of  orders,  and  desired  above  all  other  re- 
sults from  a  battle  to  gain  distinction  for  himself. 
Gramont  wearied  of  waiting  where  he  had  been  sta- 
tioned, and  he  feared  that  the  battle  would  be  won 
without  his  having  the  glory  of  winning  it.  He  was 
intoxicated  with  the  vision  of  a  marshal's  baton,  said 
his  critics.  At  all  events,  he  led  his  forces  from  Det- 
tingen and  made  a  fierce  assault  upon  the  English 
army.  Thus  he  threw  away  all  the  advantage  of  posi- 
tion for  which  Noailles  had  manoeuvred,  he  attacked 
the  entire  force  of  the  allies  with  a  portion  of  the 
French  army,  he  encountered  superior  numbers  bet- 
ter placed  and  better  disciplined.  The  English  in- 
fantry, said  Noailles,  stood  like  a  wall  of  iron,  and 
their  fire  was  incomparably  superior  to  that  of  the 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  253 

French.  1  The  forces  under  Gramont  were  routed,  and 
their  defeat  left  the  way  open  for  the  English  ad- 
vance. At  sunset  the  battle  ceased,  the  English  slept 
on  the  field,  and  the  next  day  they  proceeded  without 
further  molestation  to  Hanau.  The  losses  were  abo'it 
three  thousand  on  each  side.^ 

George  II.  was  present  at  Dettingen  with  his  army, 
and  Frederick,  in  his  memoirs,  says  that  he  stood 
during  all  the  battle  in  front  of  his  Hanoverian  bat- 
talion, right  foot  forward,  sword  in  hand  and  arm 
extended,  in  the  attitude  of  a  fencing -master.^ 

Frederick's  memoirs  are  often  as  untrustworthy  as  <^ 
they  are  entertaining,  and  in  fact  George  seems  to 
have  acquitted  himself  as  a  good  and  valorous  soldier 
at  Dettingen.  But  he  was  content  with  his  laurels, 
and  felt  no  desire  to  renew  the  experience ;  the  Eng- 
lish commander.  Lord  Stair,  resigned  in  disgust,  and 
the  English  and  Hanoverian  troops  were  on  bad 
terms.  The  English  charged  their  Hanoverian  allies 
with  cowardice,  and  said  that  they  halted  as  soon  as 
they  came  in  sight  of  the  battle,  refusing  to  share  the 
danger  and  the  glory  of  the  day ;  as  a  result  of  such 
bickerings  and  indecision  the  Pragmatic  Army,  as  it 
was  called,  accomplished  nothing  more  during  the 
year.  The  Austrians  imder  Prince  Charles  made 
some  endeavors  to  invade  Alsace,  but  these  were 
easily  foiled,  and  the  material  results  of  the  victory 
of  Dettingen  were  small. 

The  moral  results  were  of  more  importance,  for 
Maria  Theresa  and  her  allies  became  still  more  confi- 

*  Lettre  particuli^re  au  roi,  June  29,  1743. 
^  See  report  of  Noailles  to  Argenson,  June  26  ;  to  king,  June 
28  ;  Report  of  Stair,  Dispatch  of  Carteret,  etc. 
8  Mem.  de  Fred.,  i.  101. 


254  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

dent  of  their  ability  to  inflict  a  condign  punishment 
on  their  chief  enemy,  and  all  was  exultation  at 
Vienna.  The  army  of  the  king  of  England,  wrote 
Stair,  woidd  now  burst  upon  France  like  a  thunder- 
bolt. Among  the  French,  on  the  other  hand,  this 
last  disaster  increased  the  discouragement  which  had 
long  prevailed.*  The  resources  of  the  country  were 
not  exhausted,  said  a  minister,  but  the  soldiers  were 
ill  disciplined,  the  officers  were  inefficient,  and  there 
was  neither  unity  nor  vigor  in  the  administration.^ 
The  king  himself  possessed  no  power  of  heroic  re- 
sistance; he  bore  little  resemblance  to  his  cousin  of 
Prussia.  "We  must  have  peace,"  he  wrote;  "the 
best  we  can  make."  "We  must  not  make  a  disgrace- 
ful treaty,"  he  says  again,  "unless  we  are  constrained 
,by  too  great  force.  "^  Apparently  Louis  thought  the 
^forces  against  him  were  now  overpowering,  for  he 
was  willing  to  cede  Lorraine  as  a  condition  of  peace.* 
Such  timid  counsels  were  soon  abandoned,  and  the 
king  was  incited  to  play  a  manly  part,  which  won  for 
him  an  outburst  of  loyalty  among  his  subjects  as  fer- 
vent as  it  was  brief.  Among  the  counselors  to  whom 
he  listened  with  attention  was  Marshal  Noailles,  who 
had  served  under  Louis  XIV.,  had  helped  to  extri- 
cate the  finances  from  confusion  imder  the  regent, 
and  had  always  shown  himself  a  man  of  patriotism 

^  "  La  desolazione  della  corte  passo  h  involgere  in  lagrime  ed 
in  angoscie  questa  numerosissima  citta,"  says  the  Venetian  am- 
bassador, July  8,  1743. 

2  Tencin  to  king,  July  13,  1743. 

'  Louis  to  Noailles,  July  5  and  13,  1743. 

*  Tencin  to  king,  July  13,  1743  ;  to  Richelieu,  July  31.  The 
Venetian  ambassador,  usually  well  informed,  says  the  council 
was  in  favor  of  ceding  Lorraine,  but  Louis  would-uot  consent. 
Lis.  Ven.,  234,  366. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES    VII.  255 

and  fair  judgment.  The  marshal  was  a  worshiper 
at  the  shrine  of  Loui&  XIV.,  and  he  constantly  re- 
peated the  wisdom  of  the  great  monarch  for  the  edifi- 
cation of  his  descendant.  "  In  case  of  war,  be  yourself 
at  the  head  of  your  armies,"  the  old  king  had  said 
to  his  grandson,  the  king  of  Spain,  and  no  sooner 
had  rieury  died  than  Noailles  found  occasion  to  send 
this  and  other  ajx)thegms  of  Louis  XIV.  for  the  in- 
struction of  the  king  of  France.^  Such  a  suggestion 
was  eminently  judicious.  The  French  were  a  warlike 
nation;  when  their  king  accompanied  his  armies  to 
the  field,  he  always  excited  the  ardor  of  his  soldiers 
and  the  admiration  of  his  people;  it  was  among  the 
traditions  of  the  monarchy  that  the  sovereign  should 
share  the  perils  and  the  glory  of  warfare;  few  French 
kings  had  not  been  seen  at-  the  head  of  their  own 
armies. 

Louis  XV.  inherited  the  military  tastes  of  his  an- 
cestors, and  such  an  appeal  found  a  ready  response. 
"I  have  a  strong  desire,"  he  wrote  Noailles,  "to 
familiarize  myself  with  the  trade  in  which  my  fore- 
fathers have  been  proficient." ^  "I  cannot  look  on," 
he  writes  again,  "while  our  cities  are  captured  and 
our  frontiers  ravaged. "'"^ 

The  king's  desire  to  share  the  fortunes  of  his  army 
was  fostered,  even  if  it  was  not  suggested,  by  Mme. 
de  Chjiteauroux.  If  the  new  favorite  was  greedy  and 
ambitious,  lier  ambition  was  not  of  an  ignoble  tyj)C ; 
she  dreamed  of  rousing;  her  lover  from  his  sluj^irisli 
indifference,  of  showing  herself  a  new  Agnes  Sorel, 
of  justifying  her  place   in  the  king's  affections  by 

^  See  CoiTospoiKlence   Louis  XV.  with  Noailles. 
2  Louis  to  Noiiilles,  July  24,  1743. 
^  lb.,  August  IG. 


256  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

turning  him  from  a  faineant  ruler  into  a  hero.  A 
common  desire  to  make  a  warrior  of  the  king  created 
a  temporary  alliance  between  the  exemplary  nephew 
of  Mme.  de  Maintenon  and  the  beautiful  duchess 
who  now  ruled  at  Versailles;  the  old  marshal  encour- 
ajred  Louis's  warlike  ardor  with  the  same  zeal  as  the 
young  mistress.  "I  recognize  the  blood  and  the 
sentiments  of  Louis  XIV.  and  of  Henry  IV.,"  wrote 
the  marshal.  "Youi*  kingdom  is  purely  a  military 
one;  the  love  of  arms  has  always  distinguished  the 
nation.  Your  majesty  would  be  the  first  and  the  only 
one  of  his  race  who  had  never  appeared  at  the  head 
of  his  armies."^  "All  that  contributes  to  his  glory 
and  raises  him  above  other  kings  wiU  be  agreeable  to 
me,"  wrote  the  mistress.^  It  was  decided  that  in  the 
following  year  Louis  should  take  the  field  in  person. 

This  generous  resolution  was  embarrassed  by  the 
fatal  weaknesses  of  Louis's  character,  —  his  love  of 
pleasure,  his  unwillingness  to  sacrifice  his  amusement 
at  the  call  of  public  duty.  Louis  was  ready  to  go 
to  the  field,  and  his  mistress  encouraged  him  in  this 
resolution,  but  the  king  wished  her  to  be  of  the  party, 
and  the  duchess  was  most  anxious  that  she  should  be.' 
So  timid  was  the  king's  character  that  he  did  not 
venture  to  decide  on  taking  such  a  step.  The  pro- 
ject was  suggested  to  Noailles,  but  the  austere  mar- 
shal discouraged  it,  alleging,  as  an  excuse,  the  large 
expense  that  was  incurred  when  ladies  formed  part  of 
the  royal  retinue. 

This  objection  was  not  of  great  force.     "The  king 

^  Noailles  to  king,  August  6,  1743. 
2  Septem])er  3,  1743. 

'  Mme.  de  la  Tournelle  to  Noailles,  September  3,  1743  ; 
letter  of  Noailles,  September  11,  etc. 


THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES   VII.  257 

has  his  master  of  ceremonies,  his  chamberlain,  his 
cooks,  and  his  scullions,"  wrote  a  courtier  when  Louis 
had  departed;  "nothing  is  left  behind  but  the  mis- 
tress." 1  One  more  follower  would  not  have  imposed 
a  large  additional  burden  on  the  royal  budget,  but 
there  were  more  substantial  reasons  for  not  parading 
the  king's  weaknesses  before  the  army  and  all  Europe. 
Louis  was  little  pleased  by  this  decision,  though  he 
did  not  venture  to  overrule  it;  he  submitted  to 
Noailles's  judgment,  but  he  owed  him  a  grudge  for 
it.  The  marshal  had  enjoyed  so  large  a  share  of  the 
monarch's  confidence  that  he  was  regarded  as  a  prob- 
able successor  to  Fleury's  power,  but  his  stgr  de- 
clined from  the  time  he  interfered  with  his  master's 
pleasures ;  if  not  actually  disgraced,  he  ceased  to  re- 
ceive any  marks  of  special  favor. 

It  was  not  until  the  spring  of  1744  that  Louis  took 
the  field,  and  in  the  mean  time  new  combinations 
somewhat  changed  the  aspect  of  affairs.  The  attempt  ^ 
to  despoil  Maria  Theresa  of  her  inheritance  had  in- 
volved Italy  as  well  as  Germany  in  hostilities.  Upon 
the  death  of  Charles  VI.,  Philip  V.  advanced  his/ 
claims  to  the  succession  of  the  Hapsburgs  as  the  heir 
of  Charles  II.  of  Spain.  Spain  had  guaranteed  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction,  but  this  guarantee  affected  her 
conduct  as  little  as  that  of  other  nations.  The  posi- 
tion now  taken  could  not,  however,  be  regarded  as 
serious;  any  theory  which  made  Philip  V.  an  heir  of 
Charles  VI.  would  have  made  Louis  XV.  a  still 
nearer  heir.  But  if  Philip's  pretensions  to  the  entire 
heritage  were  slight,  he  hoped  by  means  of  them  to 
get  some  portion  of  the  plunder  in  which  most  of 
Europe  was  preparing  to  share. 

1  Journal  d'Argenson,  May  3, 1744. 


258  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

In  November,  1741,  a  Spanish  army  landed  in 
/Italy  with  the  purpose  of  obtaining  for  the  sons  of 
the  Spanish  queen  all  that  could  be  wrested  from  the 
inheritance  of  Maria  Theresa.  Elizabeth's  ambition 
for  her  children  secured,  however,  an  ally  for  her 
adversary.  The  king  of  Sardinia  was  anxious  to 
have  his  part  in  the  spoils  which  the  death  of  Charles 
VI.  exposed  to  the  greed  of  Europe,  but  he  was 
equally  anxious  to  keep  Bourbon  princes  out  of  Italy. 
While  expressly  reserving  his  own  right  to  lay  claim 
to  Milan,  he  now  agteed  to  assist  Austria  against  the 
Spanish,  and  as  a  result  the  Spanish  army  made  little 
progrees.  The  king  of  the  Two  Sicilies  desired  to 
interfere  in  behalf  of  his  family,  but  an  English  fleet 
sailed  to  Naples  and  threatened  to  bombard  the  city 
unless  the  king  remained  neutral ;  under  this  vigorous 
pressure  he  withdrew  his  forces  and  left  his  kinsmen 
to  fight  their  own  battles.  This  they  were  not  able 
to  do  with  any  success;  the  Spanish  general  was 
timid  and  inert,  and  in  the  only  engagement  of  imjwr- 
tance  between  him  and  the  Austrians  the  latter  had 
the  best  of  it. 

The  French  now  came  to  the  assistance  of  their 
Spanish  kinsfolk,  and  the  arrival  of  their  army  in 
Italy  in  1743  changed  the  prospects  of  the  combat- 
ants. Charles  Emmanuel  was  king  of  Sardinia,  and 
the  French  tried  to  obtain  his  aid;  but  that  wily 
prince  observed  the  judicious  policy  of  the  House  of 
Savoy,  he  negotiated  with  both  sides  in  soairli  of  the 
most  favorable  terms.*  Tlie  assistance  of  the  Pied- 
montese  anny,  considerable  in  number  and  commanded 

'  Tlie  court  of  Turin  was  justly  regarded  among  diplomats  as 
•'  la  plus  fine  cour  de  tuuto  I'Europe."  liistructiou  fur  dum 
Grafen  Richccourt,  1744. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  259 

with  ability,  was  enough  to  secure  the  preponderance 
in  Italy  of  the  cause  which  Charles  espoused,  and 
the  French  would  gladly  have  enlisted  him  in  their 
interests  by  agreeing  to  give  him  all  that  should  be 
won  of  Austria's  Italian  possessions.  They  were 
hampered,  however,  by  their  alliance  with  Spain,  for 
while  Charles  Emmanuel  wished  the  duchy  of  Milan 
for  himself,  the  queen  of  Spain  was  unwilling  that  he 
should  have  it;  she  had  begun  the  war  to  obtain  Ital- 
ian principalities  for  her  own  children,  and  she  in- 
sisted that  to  this  end  the  French  must  devote  their 
entire  energies.  If  Elizabeth  would  not  agree  to 
yield  territories  which  she  coveted,  Maria  Theresa, 
with  better  reason,  was  no  more  inclined  to  cede  ter« 
ritories  that  were  actually  in  her  possession.  It  is 
doubtful  if  Charles  had  any  real  thoughts  of  entering 
a  coalition,  the  object  of  which  was  to  establish  an- 
other son  of  the  Spanish  queen  as  an  Italian  prince, 
but  the  possibility  of  such  an  alliance  was  used  to 
advantage  in  extorting  favorable  terms  from  Maria 
Theresa.^  In  these  efforts  Charles  had  the  hearty 
cooperation  of  the  English,  and  their  activity  in  his 
behalf  was  little  relished  by  Maria  Theresa.  It  was 
with  indignation  that  the  queen  listened  to  demands 
that  she  should  cede  an  important  piece  of  her  Italian 
possessions  to  her  dangerous  neighbor  of  Sardinia. 
"If  I  am  to  be  robbed,"  said  the  unhappy  queen,  "it 
aiay  as  well  be  by  my  enemies  as  by  my  friends.  I 
had  better  make  terms  with  my  opponents  than  pay 
what  is  demanded  by  my  defenders."' 

These  negotiations  continued  for  some  time,  but 

'  Sinzendorff  said,  wrote  Capello,  "  Qualunque  sia  il  manegjifio 
della  Sardegna  eon  la  Francia,  egli  noii  sa  temere  chc  uuisca  le 
sue  trnj)pe  alle  coiiquisto  de  Spagnuoli." 


260  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Charles  Emmanuel  was  not  a  man  to  be  trifled  with 
indefinitely.  He  finally  agreed  on  the  conditions  of 
a  treaty  with  France,  and  the  English  were  informed 
that  it  would  be  signed  forthwith  unless  his  demands 
were  acceded  to  without  more  delay.  "My  situation 
is  peculiar,"  he  remarked  to  the  French  ambassador 
with  affable  effrontery.  "If  my  courier  arrives  in 
time,  I  am  the  ally  of  England ;  if  not,  I  am  on  your 
side."^  The  pressure  which  the  English  brought 
upon  Maria  Theresa  at  last  overcame  her  stubborn- 
ness, and  in  September,  1743,  the  treaty  of  Worms 
•  was  signed.  By  it  Charles  Emmanuel  obtained  from 
Austria  the  promise  of  Piacenza,  Pavia,  and  exten- 
sive territories  by  the  Po,  in  return  for  his  promised 
aid,  and  his  lot  was  cast  with  the  enemies  of  France. 
Maria  Theresa  had  no  love  for  her  new  ally,  and  she 
bore  a  lasting  grudge  against  the  English  for  the  zeal 
they  displayed  in  obtaining  concessions  for  him.^  It 
must  be  admitted  that  she  received  hard  treatment. 
In  return  for  the  sacrifices  she  made,  to  pacify  Prus- 
sia and  Sardinia,  her  allies  bound  themselves  to  vig- 
orous measures  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Bourbon 
princes  from  Italy,  that  the  queen  might  have  Naples 
as  some  compensation  for  her  losses.^  No  sooner  was 
the  treaty  signed  than  the  Austrians  prepared  to  in- 
vade  the  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  but  neither  her 
English  nor  her  Piedmontese  allies  showed  any  incli- 
nation to  cociperate.  This  was  not  the  fitting  time, 
they  said,  in  reply  to  the  protestations  of  her  gen- 

^  Correspondance  de  Turin,  1743,  Aff.  Etr. 

'  See  among  other  proofs  of  this  her  conversation  with  Robin- 
son reported  by  him,  May  1,  1748,  and  her  correspondence  with 
Wasner  and  Kaiinitz  in  1743. 

•  Second  secret  article,  treaty  of  Worms. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  261 

erals,  and  the  fitting  time  for  their  cooperation  never 
came.     Charles   Emmanuel   was   paid   to   drive   the»^ 
Bourbons  out  of  Italy;  he  kept  the  reward,  and  did 
not  perform  the  work. 

Louis  XV.  's  zeal  in  behalf  of  Spain  was  increased 
when  he  found  that  the  king  of  Sardinia  had  declined 
his  overtures.  It  was  just  at  that  time  that  Louis 
took  a  more  active  part  in  the  administration  than 
ever  before  or  after:  FFeury  had  lately  died;  Mme. 
de  Chateauroux  incited  her  lover  to  prove  himself  a 
king,  to  command  in  the  field  and  (fontrol  in  the  cabi- 
net. He  promptly  assured  Philip  that  the  French 
army  would  join  that  of  Spain  and  punish  the  perfidy 
of  the  king  of  Sardinia,  and  he  kept  his  word.^  In 
October,  1743,  a  treaty  between  France  and  Spain 
was  signed  at  Fontainebleau  which  was  the  second  of 
the  series  of  family  compacts.  The  treaty  of  1733 
had  been  framed  under  the  guidance  of  Chauvelin,  a 
diplomat  of  experience;  the  second  was  largely  the 
handiwork  of  the  king  himself,  and  it  assumed  obli- 
gations far  more  serious.  Their  fidl  accomplishment 
was  impossible,  and  even  the  attempt  at  performance 
imposed  serious  and  disastrous  burdens  upon  France. 
But  the  king  was  anxious  to  advance  the  interests  of 
his  family,  and  Fleury  was  no  longer  present  to  insist 
that  France  should  not  be  sacrificed  to  the  demands 
of  Spain.  "I  have  the  establishment  of  Don  Philip 
as  much  at  heart  as  your  majesty,"  Louis  wrote  his 
uncle,  and  he  was  ready  to  concede  whatever  was 
asked.  "This  alliance  being  according  to  my  heart," 
he  wrote  again,  "I  have  consented  with  pleasure  to 
whatever  the  prince  of  Campo  Florido  has  proposed." 

1  Louis  to  Philip,  Septeuibcr  20, 1743,  Aff.  Etr.     '«  Tour  tirer 
veugeance  d'uuc  aussi  uoirc  pertidie." 


262  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

"You  will  see,"  said  the  minister  for  foreign  affairs, 
writing  to  the  French  ambassador  at  Madrid,  "that 
it  is  all  for  the  advantage  of  Spain,  but  his  majesty 
makes  no  distinction  between  the  interests  of  the 
king  of  Spain  and  his  own."  ^ 

The  treaty  of  Fontainebleau,  like  that  of  Escurial 
which  had  been  so  soon  violated,  was  declared  to  be 
an  eternal  family  compact,  which  should  bind  more 
closely  the  ties  of  blood,  and  assure  the  splendor  of 
two  monarchies.  It  contained  no  stipulation  of  any 
sort  for  France,  except  that  Spain  should  be  her 
ally,  but  the  provisions  made  for  the  Spanish  infante 
were  all  that  even  his  mother  could  demand.  Her 
oldest  son  Carlos  was  now  king  of  the  Sicilies,  and  it 
was  the  second  son,  Don  Philip,  for  whom  provision 
was  made.  Don  Philip  had  a  double  claim  upon  the 
affection  of  Louis  XV. :  he  was  his  cousin,  and  by  his 
recent  marriage  he  had  become  the  king's  son-in-law. 
Louis  was  fond  of  his  children,  and  he  had  now  to 
provide  for  his  daughter  as  well  as  for  a  prince  of  the 
Bourbon  family.      )^      ' 

By^thajlieaiiy_of_Fontaiiifiblea  it  was  agreed  that 
Don  Philip  should  become  the  ruler  of  Parma,  Pia- 
cenza,  and  of  the  duchy  of  Milan;  he  would,  if  it 
had  been  carried  into  effect,  have  been  the  most  pow- 
erful prince  in  Italy,  and  to  obtain  for  him  these 
great  possessions  was  declared  in  the  treaty  itself  to 
be  the  chief  object  for  which  it  was  made.  In  ad- 
dition to  this,  Gibraltar  was  to  be  conquered  from 
England,  the  English  colony  of  Georgia  was  to  be 
destroyed,  as  injurious  to  the  Spanish  possessions  in 
Florida,  and  the  French  bound  themselves  to  make  no 
peace  until  all  these  objects  had  been  fully  accom- 
1  Aiuclot  to  Reuncs,  October  26,  1743. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES    VII.  263 

plislied.^  The  treaty  of  Fontainebleaii  shared  the  fate 
of  all  the  family  compacts,  —  it  was  never  executed; 
but  the  efforts  made  to  obtain  even  a  part  of  all  that 
France  had  promised  compelled  her  to  continue  an 
unprofitable  struggle  for  years,  and  to  sacrifice  the 
advantages  she  might  have  gained  in  the  war  of  the 
Austrian  Succession. 

Plowever  improvidently  the  obligation  had  been 
incurred,  it  came  into  the  hands  of  a  rigorous  cred- 
itor, who  raised  loud  cries  of  perfidy  and  abandonment 
if  ever  she  saw  the  slightest  abatement  in  the  efforts 
to  obtain  its  entire  execution.  The  years  which  had 
passed  since  the  war  of  the  Polish  Succession  had  not 
weakened  Elizabeth's  hold  on  the  reins  of  Spanish 
government,  nor  did  Philip's  intellect  become  more 
vigorous  as  he  approached  the  end  of  his  life.  One 
spirit  ruled  in  Spain,  and  it  was  that  of  the  queen. ^ 
The  interviews  between  the  French  ambassadors  and 
the  Bourbon  king  seem  like  scenes  of  comedy.  None 
were  held  at  which  the  queen  was  not  present,  and 
the  part  taken  by  her  husband  was  a  humble  one. 
She  poured  out  her  views  with  an  impetuosity  that 
allowed  of  no  interruption,  but  when  she  paused  a 
moment  for  breath  the  king  would  sometimes  inter- 

^  This  treaty,  like  the  "  pacte  de  famille  "  of  1733,  was  kept 
secret.  It  is  found  in  Cor.  d'Espagne,  474,  375-381,  with  an 
additional  article,  pp.  406,  433.  The  treaty  allowed  France  to 
recover  some  unimportant  towns  ceded  by  the  Peace  of  Utrecht. 
"  Le  fruit  passager  de  la  col6re  et  de  la  partiality,"  is  the  de- 
scription of  the  treaty  by  a  French  minister  two  years  later. 
Cor.  d'Esp.,  488,  203.  Its  engagements,  he  adds,  were  ruinous 
and  without  advantage  to  France,  and  the  same  thing  could  be 
said  of  the  three  family  compacts  between  the  sovereigns  of 
the  two  countries. 

^  Vaurdal  to  Argenson,  October  19,  1744. 


264  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

ject,  "  That  is  so ;  that  is  certainly  true ; "  occasion- 
ally, after  first  carefully  inspecting  the  face  of  his 
spouse  to  see  if  her  countenance  indicated  approval, 
he  ventured  a  suggestion  of  his  own,  which  she  would 
then  expound  more  at  length.* 

The  bishop,  who  for  many  years  represented  France 
at  the  court  of  Madrid,  has  drawn  a  picture  of  this 
autocrat  in  no  flattering  terms.  Vain  without  dig- 
nity, avaricious  without  economy,  and  violent  without 
courage,  she  had  neither  wit,  nor  judgment,  nor  grace ; 
even  her  virtue,  of  which  she  made  such  constant 
boast,  the  critic  said,  had  never  been  put  to  the  test 
of  temptation.^  The  portrait  was  drawn  by  an  un- 
friendly hand,  but  it  is  certain  that^ Elizabeth ^s  char- 
acter  was  harsh  and  violent,  and  it  is  equally  certain^ 
that  she  bore  no  love  for  France.  In  this,  if  in  no- 
thing else,  she  shared  the  feelings  of  her  subjects. 
Forty  years  of  the  rule  of  a  Bourbon  prince  had  not 
made  the  Spaniards  love  France:  it  was  impossible 
that  a  Spaniard  should  truly  like  the  French,  their 
minister  wrote  despondently;  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,  they  learned  to  hate  tiie  French  as  they  learned 
to  love  a  bull  fight.  ^ 

These  national  antipathies  were  little  considered  by 
those  who  thought  to  make  Spain  the  faithful  ally  of 
France  by  giving  her  a  Bourbon  king,  but  they  made 
futile  the  schemes  of  statesmen.  In  no  people  was 
the  feeling  of  nationality  stronger  than  among  the 
Spanish :  if  a  Bourbon  ruler  would  become  a  Span- 
iard, he  could  gain  the  affection  of  his  subjects,  but 
they  resented  the  presence  of  French  officials,  the 

•  Rennes  to  Amelot,  September,  1743,  etpas. 

•  Vaurdal  to  Argenson,  July  26, 1746. 

•  lb.,  August  26,  1746. 


THE  EMPEROR   CHARLES   VII.  265 

existence  of  Frencli  customs,  or  the  influence  of 
French  politics.  It  must  be  said  that  after  the  death 
of  Louis  XIV.  they  had  little  cause  to  complain  of 
Philip  V.  in  this  regard. 

When  the  treaty  of  Fontainebleau  was  signed, 
Charles  VII.  was  still  alive,  and  the  French  were 
engaged  in  the  effort  to  keep  on  the  imperial  throne 
the  monarch  whom  they  had  placed  there.  But  in 
1745^  Charles  eoded^  his  melancholy  career  of  defeat 
and  disappointment,  and  it  was  certain  that  the  throne  ^ 
of  the  Caesars  would  again  become  the  patrimony  of 
the  House  of  Austria.  As  the  French  sought  no  con- 
quests for  themselves,  they  had  then  nothing  left  t? 
fight  for  except  the  possessions  in  Italy  desired  for 
Don  Philip.  It  required  years  of  obstinate  conflict 
to  obtain  them.  Maria  Theresa  was  stubborn  in  the 
defense  of  her  possessions,  she  was  ambitious,  and  she 
was  pious;  it  was  revolting  to  her  pride  that  the 
power  of  Austria  should  be  lessened  during  her  reign; 
she  believed  that  she  was  the  lawful  ruler  of  provinces 
and  principalities  of  which  unscrupulous  enemies  were 
seeking  to  despoil  her,  and  she  had  implicit  confidence 
that  the  God  of  battles  would  at  last  protect  her 
rights  against  the  unjust  practices  of  wicked  men. 

"Our  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  Spain,"  wrote  the 
French  secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  ere  the  long  war 
had  been  brought  to  an  end,  "has  extended  even  to 
the  sacrifice  of  our  own  interests."  "If  we  were  not 
charged  with  obtaining  a  principality  for  Don  Philip," 
he  writes  again,  plaintively,  after  the  victories  of 
Maurice  de  Saxe,  "we  might  keep  our  conquests  in 
Flanders  for  ourselves."  ^     It  was  not  strange  that  he 

^  Argenson  to  Vaurdal,  July  13,  1745 ;  to  Rennes,  June  4, 
1746,  Aff.  Etr.,  Esp.,  457,  488. 


266  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

wished  some  means  might  be  devised  to  induce  the 
Spanish  to  abandon  the  French  alliance,  and  said  that 
posterity  would  find  it  hard  to  decide  whether  the 
effort  to  destroy  Spain  had  cost  France  as  much  as 
the  effort  to  protect  her.^ 

'  Argenson  to  Vaurdal,  1746, /?(M.;  to  Rennes,  October  16, 
1746,  Aff.  Etr.,  Esp. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

RENEWAL   OF  THE  WAR   BY   FREDERICK. 

The  prosperity  of  the  arms  of  Maria  Theresa 
aroused  an  old  enemy,  and  one  more  dangerous  than 
the  decrepit  king  of  Spain.  AVhen  Frederick  obtained 
the  cession  of  Silesia  by  the  treaty  of  Breslau  in  1742, 
he  promised  to  take  no  further  part  in  the  war  against 
Austria.  That  treaty  had  been  scrupulously  observed 
by  the  Austrian  court,  but  Frederick  had  little  respect 
for  treaties  himself,  and  little  confidence  in  the  fidel- 
ity of  others  to  their  obligations ;  he  believed  that  if 
Maria  Theresa  had  the  power  she  would  wrest  Silesia 
from  him,  and  in  this  belief  he  was  undoubtedly  right. 
The  queen  of  Hungary  had  agreed  to  the  peace  of 
Breslau  because  the  English  intimated  that  at  some 
future  day  she  might  get  back  her  stolen  property ; 
she  would  certainly  have  felt  that  in  retaking  Silesia 
she  was  righting  the  wrong,  punishing  an  evil-doer, 
and  obtaining  for  that  province  the  blessing  of  a 
lawful  ruler  and  the  ascendency  of  the  true  faith. 

The  news  of  the  battle  of  Dettingen  aroused  Fred- 
erick from  the  tranquil  enjoyment  with  which  he  had 
watched  his  former  allies  and  enemies  exhausting  each 
other's  resources.  "  I  am  annoyed  at  the  news  which 
I  have  received  from  Hanover,"  he  writes  to  Podewils. 
"You  will  see  the  account  of  the  battle  which  my 
uncle  —  may  the  devil  take  him  —  has  won  from  the 
French."  ^  His  fears  were  at  once  excited  for  Silesia. 
1  Frederick  to  Podewils,  July  3,  1743. 


268  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

*'  When  peace  is  made,"  he  adds  in  the  same  letter, 
"  I  fear  they  will  want  to  pare  ofE  something  from  our 
conquests." 

These  apprehensions,  which  appear  constantly  in 
his  correspondence,  were  increased  when  he  discovered 
the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Worms.  By  that  instru- 
ment many  other  treaties  were  confirmed,  but  Freder- 
ick noticed  the  ominous  omission  of  any  reference  to 
that  of  Breslau.^  As  he  was  no  party  to  the  negotia- 
tions at  Worms,  such  an  omission  would  not  seem 
strange,  but  the  king  was  by  nature  in  the  highest 
degree  suspicious.  In  a  private  memorandum  he  bal- 
anced the  reasons  for  believing  that  the  Austrians 
and  English  were  acting  towards  him  in  good  or  in 
bad  faith,  and  he  unhesitatingly  decided  that  they 
were  actuated  by  the  most  sinister  purposes.  "  I 
should  be  deceiving  myself,"  he  wrote  his  minister, 
"  to  put  any  confidence  in  the  honeyed  words  of  the 
court  of  Vienna,  or  to  believe  that  they  have  any  good 

^  Politische  Correspondenz,  iii.  26,  69,  et  pas.  The  guarantee 
is  in  the  second  article  of  the  treaty,  and  secures  to  the  three 
nations  joining  in  it  their  possessions  as  established  by  various 
other  treaties.  It  would  have  been  as  foreign  to  the  matter  in 
hand  to  guarantee  Silesia  to  Prussia  as  Alsace  to  France,  but 
Frederick  was  alert  in  finding  justification  for  a  policy  to  which 
he  was  inclined.  In  truth,  there  was  no  ground  for  his  com- 
plaints. A  secret  article  recited  the  treaty  of  Breslau  and  the 
English  g^iarantee  of  it,  and  this  was  among  the  reasons  for 
England's  agreement  to  obtain  for  Maria  Theresa,  if  possible, 
some  compensation  for  the  losses  she  had  sustained.  The  va- 
lidity of  the  treaty  of  Breslau,  and  its  gtiarantee  by  England, 
was  therefore  recognized.  It  is  possible  Frederick  did  not  know 
of  this  secret  article,  though  he  was  usually  well  informed,  but 
it  is  not  probable  that  anything  contained  in  or  omitted  from  the 
treaty  of  Worms  affected  his  conduct.  He  decided  that  to 
recommence  hostilities  would  be  to  his  advantage,  and  he  g^ve 
euch  reasons  for  his  determination  as  he  saw  fit. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     269 

intentions  toward  me.  .  .  .  They  never  pardon  when 
they  believe  that  they  have  been  wronged."  ^ 

Frederick  bore  no  love  to  France,  but  it  was  not  for 
his  interest  that  the  humiliation  of  that  country  should 
increase  the  power  of  Maria  Theresa.  In  the  latter 
part  of  1743,  his  representatives  at  Versailles  inti- 
mated that  if  proper  inducements  coidd  be  offered 
their  master  he  might  be  induced  to  take  a  hand 
again  in  the  contest  against  Austria.  Frederick  could  -' 
claim  no  violation  of  the  treaty  of  Breslau,  but  there 
was  little  trouble  in  finding  a  pretext  for  war.  Imme- 
diately after  the  battle  of  Dettingen  he  wrote  Pode- 
wils,  "Next  year,  when  our  flutes  are  tuned,  the 
emperor  must  solicit  me  to  send  a  contingent  for  the 
succor  of  the  empire.    All  will  be  done  in  his  name."  ^ 

Not  only  did  Frederick  desire  a  pretext,  but  he  did 
not  wish  to  recommence  war  without  some  hope  of 
gain.  He  wrote  his  representative  at  Paris  to  inti- 
mate that  thus  far  the  inducements  of  personal  advan- 
tage offered  his  master  had  not  been  sufficiently  great 
to  induce  him  to  undertake  new  enterprises,  "  but  you 
will  touch  on  this  very  delicately,"  said  Frederick. 
He  was  naturally  apprehensive  of  the  rancor  that 
might  remain  from  his  desertion  of  the  common  cause 
two  years  before.  "Will  the  king  ever  forgive  me 
for  making  a  separate  peace  ?  "  he  asked.  The  French 
had  no  wish  to  discourage  a  powerful  ally  by  criti- 
cising his  past  conduct.  "  A  great  state,"  said  their  a 
minister  at  Berlin,  "  does  not  know  the  feeling  of  ven- 
geance ;  it  considers  only  its  own  interest."  Thus 
encouraged,  the  Count  of  Rothenburg  labored  with 
those  most  closely  associated  with  the  king  of  France 

»  Letter  of  October  26,  1743. 
«  Pol.  Cor.,  u.  409. 


270  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

to  urge  the  expediency  of  a  fresh  treaty  with  Prussia, 
and  a  renewed  invasion  of  Germany.  Disregard- 
ing the  minister  of  foreign  affairs^  Rothenburg  dis- 
cussed these  matters  with  Richelieu  and  Tencin,  and 
he  chatted  over  the  political  situation  at  little  suppers 
with  the  king  and  Mme.  de  Chateauroux.^  Maria 
Theresa  has  long  been  reviled  by  historians  for  a 
letter  which  she  was  supposed  to  have  written  to  Mme. 
de  Pompadour  a  few  years  later  in  order  to  enlist  her 
in  favor  of  an  Austrian  alliance  against  the  king  of 
Prussia.  "  Though  the  haughtiest  of  prineesses,"  says 
Macaulay,  she  "  condescended  to  flatter  the  low-born 
and  low-minded  concubine."  Later  research  has  shown 
that  no  such  letter  was  written,  but  if  it  had  been, 
Maria  Theresa  might  have  pleaded  that  many  sover- 
eigns had  sought  to  avail  themselves  of  the  influence 
of  the  mistress  of  a  king,  and  foremost  among  them 
Frederick  the  Great.  Mme.  de  Chateauroux's  war- 
like ambition  for  her  lover  was  known,  and  Frederick 
was  sagacious  enough  to  realize  how  valuable  would  be 
her  influence.  Not  only  did  his  envoy  discuss  with 
her  the  projects  for  an  alliance  and  the  plans  for 
campaigns,  but  Frederick  honored  her  with  a  letter 
by  his  own  hand.  "  I  am  flattered,"  he  wrote,  "  that 
I  owe  to  you  in  part  the  inclination  of  the  king  of 
France  to  unite  again  the  bonds  of  an  eternal  alliance 
between  us.  The  esteem  which  I  have  always  felt  for 
you  is  mingled  with  my  sentiments  of  gratitude.  It 
is  unfortunate  that  Prussia  cannot  know  what  it  owes 
you,  but  this  sentiment  will  remain  profoundly  im- 
pressed on  my  heart.  Always  your  affectionate  friend, 
Frederick."  ^ 

'  Letters  cited  in  Droysen,  ii.  269. 

^  Frederick  to  Mme.  dc  Cliateauroux,  May  12,  1744. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     271 

The  negotiations  in  which  the  mistress  of  Louis 
XV.  earned  the  gratitude  of  Frederick  the  Great 
resulted  in  three  treaties,  and  by  one  of  them  various 
of  the  German  states,  together  with  France,  agreed 
to  unite  for  the  pacification  of  Germany  and  the 
restoration  of  Bavaria  to  the  emperor. 

It  was  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed  Charles  VII.  that 
the  Prussian  king  now  professed  to  take  up  arms,  but 
Frederick's  hard  common  sense  never  allowed  him  to 
waste  his  money  or  the  lives  of  his  soldiers  in  behalf 
of  any  one  except  himself.  The  affronts  offered  by 
Maria  Theresa  to  the  head  of  the  empire  seemed 
sacrilegious  to  Charles,  but  they  left  Frederick  calm ; 
the  real  incentive  for  his  conduct  was  found  in  a 
secret  treaty  with  France.  By  this  Frederick  was  to  ^ 
conquer  Bohemia,  and  as  a  reward  for  his  services  he 
was  to  receive  the  portion  of  Silesia  which  had  not  yet 
been  ceded  him  and  a  considerable  slice  from  Bohemia. 
These  concessions  were  ratified  by  the  emperor,  though 
very  reluctantly.  Unless  Frederick  conquered  Bohemia 
for  him  he  had  as  little  chance  of  reigning  at  Prague 
as  at  Vienna,  but  his  soul  was  filled  with  illusions,  and 
only  with  great  pains  could  he  be  brought  to  relin- 
quish his  claim  on  any  part  of  the  kingdom  as  the 
price  of  getting  the  rest  of  it.^  By  this  treaty  the 
French  agreed  to  invade  Germany  and  make  no  peace 
until  Frederick's  gains  were  assured.  With  the  growth 
of  a  national  German  sentiment,  a  sovereign  who  sum- 
moned French  armies  to  violate  the  German  soil 
would  be  deemed  a  traitor  to  the  Fatherland,  but 
Frederick  did  not  share  this  feeling ;  he  was  a  Prus- 
sian, and  if  he  could  increase  the  power  of  his  own 
kingdom,  he  was  indifferent  whether  his  end  was 
1  Tagebuck,  127. 


272  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

obtained  by  German  armies  invading  France  or  French 
armies  invading  Germany.^ 

It  was  not  until  June,  1744,  that  these  treaties  were 
signed.^  Before  that  the  nations  which  had  long  been 
fighting  at  last  declared  war.    Up  to  this  time  France 

,^/had  taken  part  in  the  hostilities  as  the  ally  of  the 
emperor,  and  England  as  the  ally  of  Maria  Theresa. 
While  French,  English,  and  Austrian  soldiers  were 
actively  engaged  in  killing  one  another,  their  coun- 

/  tries  professed    to  be  at   peace.     Now   that  Charles 

V  had  declared  himseK  a  neutral,  three  great  nations 
were  engaged  in  a  bitter  conflict,  while  nominally 
they  had  nothing  to  fight  about.     This  farce  was  at 

/last  ended.  In  the  spring  of  1744,  France  declared 
war  upon  England  and  Austria,  and  they  issued 
counter-proclamations,  by  which  each  nation  exposed 
the  wickedness  of  the  other.  This  exchange  of  wordy 
hostilities  did  no  one  any  harm,  but  the  French  took 
a  step  that  might  have  had  more  practical  effect  when 
they  planned  an  invasion  of  England. 

It  would  be  curious  to  know  the  number  of  times 
that  such  an  invasion  has  been  contemplated,  but 
since  the  days  of  William  the  Conqueror  all  such 
schemes  have  come  to  naught;  it  is  not  strange 
that  an  undertaking  which  Napoleon  was  obliged  to 
abandon  was  not  carried  into  successful  execution 
by  Louis  XV. 

It  was  a  condition  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  that  the 

'  Frederick's  letters  are  full  of  reproaches  against  his  French 
allies,  because  they  did  not  manifest  sufficient  vigor  in  the  inva- 
sion of  German  soil.     Pol.  Cor.,  iii.  284,  294 ;  iv.  60  el  pas. 

^  The  union  of  Frankfort  was  signed  in  May.  Two  other 
treaties  were  made,  one  between  Prussia,  France,  and  the  em- 
peror, and  one  between  France  and  Prussia. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     273 

Pretender' should  be  expelled  from  France.  The  en- 
mity of  George  I.  chased  him  from  Lorraine  and  from 
Avignon,  and  in  1717  James  Stuart  at  last  found  a 
peaceful  refuge  in  Rome.  There  he  lived  for  many 
years,  giving  much  of  his  time  to  prayer,  impressing 
those  who  saw  him  with  the  courteous  dignity  of  his 
manners,  but  disclosing  his  character  in  his  face, 
which  was,  says  an  observer,  both  sad  and  silly.  The 
wisest  course  for  France  to  have  pursued  with  the 
Stuarts  would  have  been  to  let  them  alone,  but  such 
had  not  been  her  policy  in  the  past.  No  experience 
of  the  futility  of  Jacobite  plots  discouraged  those 
who  hoped  to  see  again  Catholic  sovereigns  on  the 
English  throne,  and  the  cause  of  the  Stuarts  had  now 
an  influential  advocate  in  Cardinal  Tencin,  who  owed 
his  promotion  to  the  influence  of  the  Pretender ;  the 
idea  of  diverting  the  attention  of  the  English  from 
a  Continental  war  to  the  defense  of  their  own  coun- 
try was  suggested  by  him,  and  was  adopted  by  the 
French  government.  James  Stuart  himself  was 
weary  of  adventure,  but  his  son,  Charles  Edward, 
was  eager  to  respond  to  the  suggestion  that  he  should 
accompany  an  expedition  having  for  its  object  the 
restoration  of  his  family  to  the  throne.  On  January 
9,  1744,  he  left  Rome.  Disguised  as  a  courier,  and 
accompanied  by  only  one  attendant,  he  made  the 
long  journey  in  hot  haste  and  reached  Paris  in  eleven 
days.^  He  was  not  received  by  the  French  king,  but 
he  went  to  Gravelines  and  there  remained  in  con- 
cealment. These  efforts  at  secrecy  were  of  no  avail ; 
if  the  hiding-place  of  the  prince  was  concealed,  it  was 
the  only  thing  about  the  proposed  expedition  that  was 

•  An  account  of  Charles  Edward's  departure  from  Rome  is 
found  in  an  appendix  to  Stanhope's  History  of  England. 


274  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

not  known  to  England  and  all  Europe,  arid  the  pro- 
ject had  the  effect  of  exciting  the  English  to  greater 
enthusiasm  for  the  war.  The  Parliament  voted  ten 
million  pounds  for  supplies ;  the  Habeas  Corpus  act 
was  suspended ;  the  English  rallied  to  the  defense  of 
their  king  against  foreign  invasion,  and  disliked  the 
French  a  little  more  than  before. 

While  such  were  the  effects  produced  in  England 
by  this  project,  it  was  equally  injurious  to  French 
interests  in  Germany.  Chavigny  was  at  Frankfort, 
trying  to  form  an  alliance  with  the  princes  of  the 
empire,  and  furnished  with  money  with  which  to  pur- 
chase the  aid  of  these  mercenaries ;  but  the  news  of  the 
contemplated  invasion  discouraged  Protestant  states 
which,  though  inclined  to  espouse  the  French  cause, 
had  no  desire  for  a  Catholic  restoration  in  England.^ 

The  year  before,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel 
had  sold  six  thousand  of  his  subjects  for  the  use  of 
the  English ;  he  was  now  ready  to  make  a  similar 
bargain  with  the  French,  but  his  son  had  married  an 
English  princess,  and  he  would  not  assist  in  expelling 
the  House  of  Hanover  from  England.  "  Drive  away 
this  phantom  of  a  Pretender,"  wrote  Chavigny ;  "  I 
have  lost  all  confidence  in  these  Jacobites,  if  I  ever 
had  any.  They  are  good  for  nothing  but  to  ruin 
themselves  and  those  who  act  with  them."  * 

These  remonstrances  were  not  heeded.  Fifteen 
thousand  men  gathered  at  Dunkirk,  and  boats  for 
transport  were  collected  from  every  port.  The  com- 
mand of  the  expedition  was  given  to  Maurice  de 
Saxe,  and  he  was  bidden  to  disembark  his  troops 
in  "the  river  of  London,"  by  which  was  meant  the 

1  Cor.  de  Baviere,  January  20,  1744. 

2  Jb.,  March,  1744. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     275 

Thames.  "  As  soon  as  they  land,"  said  the  confident 
instructions,  "  a  revolution  will  break  out,  and  suc- 
cess will  be  certain."  ^  Maurice  was  directed  to 
advance  with  his  army  as  in  a  friendly  country,  and 
was  assured  that  the  supplies  furnished  by  the  affec- 
tionate subjects  of  King  James  would  be  all  that  his 
troops  required.  Every  one  was  charmed  with  this 
great  project,  wrote  the  Paris  chronicler,  and  the 
superstitious  derived  much  comfort  from  a  prophecy 
of  Nostradamus,  which  declared  that  in  this  year 
London  would  tremble.^  The  fortune  of  the  Stuarts 
attended  the  expedition,  and  there  was  no  opportunity 
to  see  whether  the  French  ministers  were  better  in- 
formed as  to  English  sentiment  than  they  were  as  to 
the  names  of  English  rivers.  On  the  1st  of  March, 
when  the  troops  began  to  embark,  a  furious  tempest 
arose ;  Maurice  tried  in  vain  to  set  sail ;  some  of  the 
transports  were  lost,  and  the  endeavor  had  to  be 
postponed.  On  March  4  another  attempt  was  made, 
and  again  it  was  prevented  by  a  storm.  "  Evidently 
the  winds  are  not  Jacobite,"  wrote  Maurice.^  In  the 
mean  time,  the  English  fleet  under  Admiral  Norris 
had  appeared  in  the  Channel,  and  any  chance  of  a 
successful  larfding  oh  the  English  coast  was  de- 
stroyed. The  expedition  was  postponed,  and  soon 
afterward  it  was  finally  abandoned.  Charles  Edward 
returned  sadly  to  Paris,  and  in  April  Maurice,  now 
Marshal  Saxe,  changed  the  unsubstantial  hopes  of 
victory  in  England  for  the  realities  of  victory  in  the 
Low  Countries. 

In  the  spring  of  1744,  Louis  carried  out  his  design 

1  Mem.,  February,  1744. 

*  Barbier,  iii.  495. 

8  Cited  in  Taillandier,  Maurice  de  Saxe. 


276  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

of  appearing  in  person  at  the  head  of  his  soldiers, 
and  this  step  was  accompanied  by  a  resolve  to  carry 
on  the  war  with  new  vigor;  the  entire  force  under 
arms  was  increased  to  three  hundred  thousand  men ; 
additional  taxes  were  imposed,  though  even  with  them 
there  was  a  deficiency  of  one  hundred  million  francs 
a  year.  But  an  exhibition  of  activity  on  the  part  of 
the  sovereign,  an  awakening  from  the  torpid  indif- 
ference in  which  his  life  had  been  spent,  was  so  agree- 
able to  the  people  that  these  demands  for  men  and 
money  were  responded  to  with  cheerfulness.  At  last 
we  have  a  king,  was  the  universal  saying,  and  the 
nation  was  enthusiastic  in  his  support.  The  plans 
of  the  campaign  excited  also  the  confidence  of  the 
troops ;  they  were  not  to  be  sent  on  long  and  painful 
excursions  to  Bohemia  or  Bavaria ;  they  were  to  carry 
on  war  where  there  was  more  chance  of  victory  and 
less  danger  of  starvation. 

The  forces  which  now  entered  the  Netherlands  were 
under  the  nominal  command  of  Louis  XV.,  and  the 
monarch  had  for  his  counselors  Marshals  Noailles 
and  Saxe.  The  French  army  was  one  hundred  thou- 
sand strong,  while  the  allies  were  not  able  to  muster 
over  fifty  thousand,  and  could  offer  no  effective  resist- 
ance. The  English  endeavored  to  obtain  aid  from 
Holland  and  from  Prussia,  but  without  success.  The 
Dutch  were  indeed  alarmed  by  the  presence  of  French 
armies  in  their  neighborhood,  but  the  disastrous  expe- 
riences* of  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession  had  de- 
stroyed any  taste  for  fighting  among  these  peaceful 
burghers.  In  that  war,  Holland  had  borne  a  large 
share  of  the  cost  and  had  reaped  little  of.  the  benefit ; 
the  contest  had  left  her  crippled  and  enfeebled,  and 
gince  then  England  had  far  outstripped  her  former 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     277 

rival  for  commercial  supremacy.  The  Dutch  now  felt 
no  inclination  to  risk  an  invasion  by  declaring  war  on 
France.  They  received  pacific  counsels  from  their 
ambassador  in  Paris  who,  from  his  taste  for  moral 
apothegms,  was  nicknamed  the  Plato  of  Holland.  In 
an  era  of  unscrupulous  intrigue,  the  worthy  Van  Hoey 
excited  amusement  instead  of  veneration  among  his 
colleagues.  His  dispatches  were  intercepted,  and  it 
was  with  delight  that  a  communication  was  read  by 
skeptical  and  scheming  politicians  in  which  the  worthy 
man  wrote  his  government :  "  It  is  said  that  this  ad- 
vance of  the  French  into  the  Low  Countries  causes 
great  embarrassment  to  the  republic.  You  have  but 
to  follow  the  lessons  of  prudence  contained  in  verses 
28  to  32  of  the  14th  chapter  of  the  Gospel  according 
to  St.  Luke.  The  course  suggested  in  the  last  two 
verses  can  be  followed  by  the  republic  with  entire 
confidence."  ^  When  their  high  mightinesses  turned 
to  the  verses  in  question  they  found  this  judicious 
advice :  "Or  what  king,  going  to  make  war  against 
another  king,  sitteth  not  down  first,  and  consulteth 
whether  he  be  able  with  ten  thousand  to  meet  him 
that  Cometh  against  him  with  twenty  thousand  ?  Or 
else,  while  the  other  is  yet  a  great  way  off,  he  sendeth 
an  ambassage,  and  desireth  conditions  of  peace." 
They  were  so  far  influenced  by  these  scriptural  coun- 
sels that  they  decided  not  to  declare  war  for  the 
present,  but  contented  themselves  with  sending  an 
embassy  to  meet  Louis,  which  received  from  him  very 
scant  satisfaction. 

In  another  quarter,  where  the  English  applied  for 
assistance,  they  were  sure  not  to  have  Scripture  quoted 
to  them.     By  the   treaty  of   Breslau,  England   had 
1  Van  Hoey,  April  24,  1744. 


278  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

/^aranteed  Silesia  to  Frederick,  and  he  in  turn 
agreed  to  assist  George  II.  against  any  attack  upon 
his  dominions.  He  was  now  asked  to  fulfill  this 
agreement,  but  he  met  the  request  in  his  usual 
mocking  vein.  Assuming  to  believe  that  George 
was  alarmed  by  the  threatened  expedition  of  the 
Pretender,  he  said  that  if  England  were  invaded  he 
would  embark  at  once  with  an  army  of  thirty  thou- 
sand men,  under  his  own  command,  and  hasten  to  the 
aid  of  his  royal  uncle.^  The  English  minister,  little 
pleased  by  such  badinage,  replied  that  his  master  was 
quite  able  to  defend  himself  at  home  ;  what  he  asked 
of  Frederick  was  to  perform  his  agreement  and  fur- 
nish troops  to  protect  Hanover  against  the  possibility 
of  invasion.  This  was  exactly  what  Frederick  had  no 
thought  of  doing.  Hyndford  was  informed  that  the 
Prussian  king's  health  required  him  to  visit  a  water- 
ing-place, and  this  request  could  not  be  considered 
until  his  return. 

Thus  the  French  were  left  with  a  large  superiority 
in  numbers,  and  the  presence  of  their  king  encour- 
aged and  stimulated  the  troops.  Louis  took  kindly 
to  his  new  duties  and  made  himself  popular  in  the 
army.  He  interested  himself  in  the  details  of  the 
service,  visited  the  hospitals,  and  tasted  the  bread 
and  soup  of  the  soldiers ;  he  appeared  in  the  trenches 
and  encouraged  the  men  at  their  work.^  The  French 
made  rapid  progress :  Menin  surrendered  after  a  siege 
of  a  few  days,  and  Ypres  and  Fumes  soon  followed 
the  example.  But  while  the  king  was  imitating  Louis 
XIV.  as  a  conqueror,  he  was  desirous  of  following  his 
ancestor's  example  in  other  respects.    When  the  great 

*  Pol.  Cor.,  iii.  104  et  pas. 

a  Broglie,  Frederic  II.  el  Louis  XV.,  ii.  266-270. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     279 

monarch  made  his  triumphal  marches  through  the  Low 
Countries,  he  was  accompanied  by  all  the  splendor  of 
his  court ;  he  took  his  mistresses  with  him  and  no  one 
ventured  to  complain,  not  even  his  wife  ;  they  had  not 
been  regarded  as  unseemly  features  in  the  pomp  that 
surrounded  the  "  sun  king."  Louis  XV.  cared  less 
for  splendor  than  his  ancestor,  but  he  cared  more  for 
pleasure,  nor  was  he  the  only  one  who  desired  that 
Mme.  de  Chateauroux  should  share  his  martial  glory. 
Richelieu  and  Tencin  were  loath  to  leave  the  king 
with  no  one  by  him  to  counteract  the  influence  of 
Noailles ;  the  mistress  herself  feared  the  baleful  ef- 
fects of  absence.  "  Does  the  king  seem  to  think  of 
me  ?  "  she  wrote  Richelieu.  "  Does  he  speak  of  me 
often  ?    Is  he  impatient  because  he  does  not  see  me  ?  "  ^ 

A  step  was  decided  upon  which  was  sure  to  please 
the  king,  even  though  he  did  not  venture  to  command 
it :  Mme.  de  Chateaui'oux  and  her  sister  prepared  to 
start  for  the  scene  of  war.  Even  at  this  period  some 
pretense  of  social  decorum  was  required,  but  it  was 
not  difficult  to  find  a  lady  of  position  to  lend  her 
countenance  to  such  a  project.  Tlie  family  of  Conti 
was  among  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom,  and  the  dowa- 
ger princess  of  Conti  was  a  personage  of  exalted  rank. 
The  princess  now  announced  that  she  was  to  visit  her 
son-in-law  in  the  army ;  she  selected  for  her  attend- 
ants on  the  journey  the  Duchess  of  Chateauroux  and 
her  sister,  and  they  soon  joined  the  king. 

A  change,  which  is  rarely  recognized,  had  come  over 
French  feeling  since  the  days  of  Louis  XIV.  When 
that  monarch  made  his  solemn  entries  in  conquered 
cities,  accompanied  by  his  queen  and  his  mistresses, 
it  cannot  be  fairly  said  that  such  displays  excited  any 
*  Letters  to  Richelieu,  June  3,  1744,  cited  by  Broglie. 


280  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

general  disapprobation  ;  some  jested,  a  few  lamented, 
but  the  great  majority  held  that  a  king  who  equaled 
Solomon  in  wisdom  and  splendor  could  properly  imi- 
tate that  monarch  in  other  respects.  Though  Louis 
XV.  was  a  less  imposing  figure  than  his  ancestor,  he 
was  at  this  time  quite  as  much  beloved  by  the  French 
people,  but  the  monarch  was  no  longer  regarded  as  a 
person  so  sacred  that  his  conduct  could  not  be  dis- 
cussed. While  the  age  of  Louis  XV.  is  branded  with 
special  reprobation,  it  is  doubtful  if  the  standard  of 
morality  was  any  lower  than  a  century  before,  and  it 
is  certain  that  criticism  was  much  more  severe.  Even 
before  the  sisters  left  to  rejoin  the  king,  shrewd  friends 
advised  them  to  avert  unfriendly  criticism  by  giving 
liberally  to  charities,  going  regularly  to  mass,  and 
conducting  themselves  with  great  modesty.^  Such 
precautions  would  have  been  unnecessary  fifty  years 
before ;  they  proved  insufficient  now.  The  arrival  of 
Mme.  de  Chateauroux  produced  a  most  unfavorable 
effect  on  the  army.  There  was  not  even  a  captain  of 
cavalry,  her  friends  complained,  who  did  not  assume 
to  discuss  her  coming,  and  predict  calamities  for  those 
who  had  advised  it,  and  the  letters  from  the  army 
stimulated  adverse  criticism  at  Paris.^  The  measures 
taken  in  behalf  of  the  duchess  show  how  unscrupu- 
lously the  mails  were  ransacked,  not  only  for  purposes 
of  the  government,  but  at  the  request  of  any  one  who 
had  influence  enough  to  use  government  appliances 
for  his  own  ends  ;  her  friends  told  her  that  all  letters 
coming  from  the  army  must  be  opened,  and  those 
containing  any  criticism  on  her  conduct  must  be 
destroyed ;  she  must  have  in  the  service  only  men  of 

*  Letter  of  Cardinal  Tencin,  June  7,  1744. 
'  Mem.  de  Tencin,  June  19,  1744. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     281 

whose  fidelity  she  could  be  sure,  and  an  unfortunate 
employee  who  dared  not  destroy  a  letter  coming  from 
so  great  a  person  as  Marshal  Saxe  was  condemned  as 
faint  hearted.1 

Attention  was  diverted  from  such  subjects  by  the 
news  that  France  had  been  invaded  by  her  enemies. 
Prince  Charles  of  Lorraine,  at  the  head  of  an  Austrian 
army  eighty  thousand  strong,  advanced  through  Ger- 
many. The  defense  of  the  Rhine  was  intrusted  to 
the  decrepit  Coligny,  and  the  Austrians  crossed  the 
river  practically  without  opposition.  "  At  last  we  are 
in  Alsace,"  Prince  Charles  wrote  his  brother ;  "  you 
may  expect  to  hear  from  me  next  at  Paris."  ^ 

This  put  an  end  to  the  pleasant  campaigning  in 
Flanders.  Louis  declared  that  when  the  enemy  were 
on  French  soil,  it  was  for  him  in  person  to  assist  in 
repelling  them;  forty  thousand  were  detached  from 
the  army  in  the  Low  Countries,  and  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  king  himself  they  started  for  Alsace. 
Extra  pay  stimulated  the  soldiers  to  the  utmost  exer- 
tion, and  on  August  4  they  arrived  at  Metz. 

While  the  king  was  hastening  to  repel  Austrian 
invasion,  Mme.  de  Chateauroux  and  her  sister  pur- 
sued him  with  equal  celerity. 

On  the  6th  there  was  a  great  supper  at  Metz,  the 
king  drank  deeply,  and  on  the  following  day,  either 
as  the  result  of  exposure  or  of  debauchery,  he  was 
attacked  by  a  malignant  fever.  The  care  of  the  in- 
valid was  assumed  by  those  who  held  the  first  place 
in  his  favor ;  the  two  sisters  watched  by  his  bedside, 

^  Mem.  de  Tencin.  "  I  ask  him  to  suppress  all  letters  coming 
from  the  army  which  speak  ill  of  the  voyage  of  Mme.  de  Cha- 
teauroux," the  cardinal  says. 

*  Letters  cited  by  Arneth,  il  395,  549. 


282  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

while  Richelieu  excluded  from  the  room  all  whose 
services  were  not  absolutely  required.  But  the  fever 
grew  rapidly  worse  ;  alarming  reports  circulated  as  to 
Louis's  condition.  "The  king  is  dying  "  was  on  every 
lip,  "  and  no  one  has  access  to  him  except  his  mis- 
tress and  her  confidants."  It  was  impossible  that 
this  should  continue.  The  Count  of  Clermont  and 
the  Duke  of  Chartres  sought  to  enter  the  king's  cham- 
ber, while  the  Duke  of  Richelieu  endeavored  to  keep 
them  back.  "  Who  is  this  valet  who  gives  orders  to 
the  kinsmen  of  the  king,"  cried  the  Duke  of  Chartres, 
as  he  forced  his  way  into  the  room.  The  body  of 
courtiers  could  no  longer  be  excluded,  but  the  king's 
condition  grew  none  the  better  for  their  attendance. 
By  the  11th  it  was  thought  that  the  end  was  near. 

Amid  the  confusion  and  dismay  excited  by  this 
sudden  and  terrible  illness,  the  clamor  grew  stronger 
against  the  mistress  who  had  outraged  decency  by 
following  Louis  on  his  campaign,  and  had  drawn  him 
into  dissipation  which  woidd  probably  cost  him  his 
life.  It  was  no  longer  the  coterie  of  Richelieu  and 
Chateauroux  which  was  triumphant ;  the  gallant  duke 
and  the  beautiful  duchess  were  overwhelmed  in  a  tor- 
rent of  popular  indignation;  those  evil  companions, 
it  was  said,  must  be  removed,  and  the  king  be  recon- 
ciled to  the  Great  Judge  before  whom  he  was  soon  to 
appear. 

The  friends  of  virtue  had  small  chance  of  gaining 
the  upper  hand  with  Louis  while  he  was  in  health  and 
strength,  but  now  death  seemed  near,  hell  was  per- 
haps not  far  distant,  and  the  king  was  ea^er  to  do  all 
that  his  ghostly  counselors  advised.  His  conscience 
was  usually  under  the  charge  of  his  confessor.  Father 
Perusseau,  a  Jesuit,  who  had  found  it  possible  to  keep 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     283 

the  king  in  the  path  of  salvation  and  to  remain  on 
friendly  terms  with  the  king's  mistress.  But  the 
grand  almoner  now  came  forward  and  said  that  by 
virtue  of  his  office  he  alone  was  entitled  to  administer 
extreme  unction  to  the  dying  man.  The  almoner  was 
Bishop  of  Soissons,  a  grandson  of  the  famous  Marshal 
Berwick,  and  a  man  of  austere  character  and  rigid 
morals.  He  refused  to  administer  the  sacrament 
until  Mme.  de  Chateauroux  and  her  sister  were  dis- 
missed. Such  a  demand  met  with  no  resistance  from 
the  terrified  king,  and  Louis  signed  an  order  directing 
them  to  leave  Metz  forthwith.  "  Where  shall  they 
go?"  he  was  asked.  "Let  them  go  to  Paris,"  he  re- 
plied ;  "  let  them  go  anywhere,  if  only  it  is  far  away." 
Such  was  the  feeling  against  the  fallen  mistress  that 
she  dared  not  be  seen  in  Metz ;  a  friend  lent  his  car- 
riage to  the  sisters  and,  with  the  curtains  closely  drawn, 
they  made  their  way  by  stealth  from  the  town.^ 

The  grand  almoner  now  felt  justified  in  administer- 
ing the  offices  of  the  church  to  one  whose  penitence 
had  been  proved  by  his  acts.  Those  who  had  the 
right  to  be  in  attendance  on  the  king  while  he  lived 
were  also  entitled  to  watch  him  when  he  was  dying. 
Such  a  crowd  of  officers  and  courtiers  filled  the  room 
while  the  extreme  unction  was  administered,  that  we 
are  told  it  looked  like  the  parterre  of  the  opera  at  a 
first  representation.^  The  Bishop  of  Soissons  was 
resolved  to  have  the  cause  of  virtue  publicly  vindi- 
cated in  the  presence  of  this  audience.  Turning  to 
the  assemblage  of  nobles  and  officers  he  said  in  a  loud 
voice,  "  The  king  has  instructed  me  to  state  to  you 
that  he  repents  of  the  scandal  he  has  caused,  and  that 

^  So  stated  in  a  letter  of  Mme.  de  Chateauroux. 
'  Relation  cited  by  the  Due  de  Broglie. 


284  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

he  has  no  thought  of  choosing  Mme.  de  Chateauroux 
as  superintendent  of  the  establishment  of  the  dau- 
phiue."  ^  "  Nor  of  making  her  sister  a  lady  in  wait- 
ing," came  in  a  weak  voice  from  the  bed,  as  Louis 
himself  endeavored  to  complete  the  bishop's  statement, 
—  a  protestation  which  strengthened  suspicious  that 
had  long  been  entertained.  A  temporary  gallery  had 
connected  the  residence  of  the  king  with  that  occupied 
by  Mme.  de  Chateauroux,  and  had  given  rise  to  evil 
jests  among  the  public.  Now  that  the  duchess  was 
gone,  the  gallery  was  harmless,  but  it  was  at  once 
torn  down,  that  the  triumph  of  virtue  might  be  mani- 
fest and  complete. 

The  news  of  the  king's  illness  soon  reached  Paris, 
and  it  excited  an  outburst  of  grief  and  of  passionate 
affection  for  the  monarch  such  as  has  never  again  been 
witnessed  in  France.  The  French  were  still  deeply 
attached  to  their  sovereigns;  if  Louis's  early  career 
had  not  aroused  enthusiasm,  they  were  ready  to  over- 
look its  errors  ;  if  he  had  done  nothing,  it  was  because 
Cardinal  Fleury  had  done  all.  Now  he  was  at  the 
head  of  their  armies ;  he  was  attacked  by  a  dangerous 
and  perhaps  a  fatal  illness  when  he  was  hastening  to 
repel  a  hostile  invasion.  "  He  has  died  for  us  "  was 
the  universal  cry  among  a  people  who  were  willing  to 
forgive  so  much  in  their  monarchs  and  to  repay  with 
an  ardent  affection  any  exhibition  of  courage  or  patri- 
otic devotion.  Tears  were  seen  in  every  eye ;  the 
offices  of  the  post  were  besieged  by  those  asking  for 
the  news  brought  by  the  latest  couriers  ;  the  churches 
were  filled  with  people  praying  for  the  king's  restora- 

*  This  alluded  to  a  rumor  that  this  important  position  was  soon 
to  be  bestowed  on  Mme.  de  Chateauroux  as  a  further  mark  of 
the  king's  favor. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     285 

tion  to  health ;  at  Notre  Dame,  services  were  held 
continuously  during  forty  hours  to  propitiate  the 
Divine  mercy.^ 

Louis  had  sent  word  that  his  wife  and  son  should 
come  to  Metz,  but  the  royal  vehicles  were  so  cumber- 
some and  the  royal  retinue  so  extensive,  that  it  was 
only  with  much  difficulty  that  they  could  be  started. 

The  party  were  obliged  to  move  in  three  detach- 
ments at  intervals  of  six  hours,  while  eighty  horses 
were  needed  for  each  relay.  Notwithstanding  the  de- 
lay caused  by  the  requirements  of  court  etiquette, 
the  queen  at  last  reached  Metz.  She  found  that  the 
crisis  had  passed,  and  the  king  was  on  the  road  to  re- 
covery. The  physicians  had  ordered  frequent  bleed- 
ings, and  these,  in  connection  with  the  fever,  had 
brought  Louis  almost  to  the  grave ;  at  last,  in  despair, 
a  quack  was  allowed  to  give  him  a  pill,  and  at  once 
he  began  to  mend. 

The  grief  which  had  been  caused  by  the  king's  ill- 
ness at  Paris  was  followed  by  a  corresponding  out- 
burst of  joy  when  it  was  known  that  the  danger  was 
past.  For  days  the  celebrations  continued  :  the  houses 
were  magnificently  decorated,  at  night  all  the  streets 
were  ablaze  with  lights,  never  had  such  illuminations 
been  seen,  the  streets  of  St.  Denis,  St.  Martin,  and 
St.  Honore  became  marvels  of  beauty,  Te  Deums  were 
sung,  fireworks  blazed,  on  the  Port  Neuf  wine  was 
running  free  of  cost,  and  bread  and  sausages  were 
given  away  to  the  hungry .^  A  priest  declared  the 
king  to  be  Louis  the  well-beloved,  and  this  was  caught 
up  all   over  France  ;   to  Louis   the  great   succeeded 

^  The  best  account  of  the  feeling  at  Paris  is  found  in  the 
Journal  de  Barbier,  t.  iii. 

^  For  all  this  see  Journal  de  Barbier. 


286  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Louis  the  beloved.^  The  expression  continued  to  be 
applied  to  the  king  by  court  poets  and  chaplains  long 
after  he  had  become  an  object  of  hatred  and  contempt 
to  almost  the  whole  French  nation. 

The  joy  of  the  people  was  shared  by  the  queen. 
She  found  her  husband  alive  and  penitent,  and  asking 
pardon  of  her  for  his  offenses ;  her  rivals  had  been 
sent  about  their  business  amid  the  hootings  of  the 
populace ;  in  the  future,  the  king,  whom  a  miracle 
had  saved  from  the  grave,  would  lead  a  praiseworthy 
and  Christian  life. 

While  such  were  the  hopes  of  the  friends  of  virtue, 
those  who  constituted  what  we  may  call  the  party  of 
vice,  with  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  the  king's 
character,  felt  sure  that  the  only  thing  necessary  for 
their  final  triumph  was  that  Louis's  life  should  be 
spared.  The  Duchess  of  Ch^teauroux  and  her  sister 
had  a  melancholy  journey  back  to  Paris.  Wherever 
they  were  recognized,  they  were  greeted  with  invec- 
tives and  coarse  insults.  At  Bar  le  Due  they  nearly 
encountered  the  cortege  of  the  queen  on  the  road  for 
Metz  ;  the  duchess  concealed  herseK  in  a  retired  house 
to  escape  the  contumely  and  even  the  danger  which 
might  result  from  such  a  meeting.  But  her  heart  did 
not  fail  her,  and  she  knew  well  the  character  of  the 
man  who  had  exposed  her  to  insults  and  disgrace 
when  he  was  afraid  of  dying,  and  who  would  be  sure 
to  pursue  her  again  when  his  fears  had  passed  away. 
"  So  long  as  the  king  is  feeble,"  she  wrote  her  adviser, 
the  Duke  of  Richelieu,  "  he  will  continue  devout,  but 
when  he  is  better  I  wager  that  I  will  run  furiously  in 
his  head.  I  do  not  see  that  the  future  is  all  dark  if 
the  king  recovers.  If  we  escape  from  this,  you  will 
*  Luynes,  be.  117.     The  priest  was  the  Abbd  Josset. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     287 

agree  that  our  star  will  carry  us  far."  She  had  judged 
her  royal  lover  rightly.  As  Louis  grew  stronger  his 
piety  grevJr  weaker ;  he  began  to  yearn  again  for  the 
pleasures  to  which  he  was  accustomed,  and  to  look 
with  unfriendly  eyes  on  those  who  made  such  public 
proclamation  of  his  future  virtue.  Even  at  the  time, 
all  had  not  approved  of  the  zeal  of  the  Bishop  of  Sois- 
sons  in  proclaiming  Louis's  repentance.  "  The  con- 
duct of  the  Bishop  of  Soissons  is  regarded  as  the 
most  noble  thing  in  the  world,"  writes  Barbier  with 
his  usual  bourgeois  good  sense.  "  Already  he  is  made 
Archbishop  of  Paris  and  cardinal.  For  myself,  I  re- 
gard this  conduct  as  very  indecent.  For  what  serves 
all  this  ecclesiastical  parade  ?  It  was  enough  if  the 
king  had  a  sincere  repentance  for  what  he  had  done."  ^ 
Certainly,  to  justify  this  public  and  pompous  announce- 
ment of  a  reformed  life,  one  should  have  been  sure 
that  the  future  would  verify  it,  and  with  a  character 
like  that  of  Louis  XV.  it  was  certain  that  the  future 
would  belie  it. 

The  king  soon  tired  of  the  queen's  society,  and  he 
asked  her  with  his  habitual  brusqueness  when  she  in- 
tended to  return  to  Versailles.^  She  recognized  the 
symptoms  of  his  ill  will,  and  left  the  same  night.  The 
officious  almoner  discovered  that  he  had  not  taken  the 
road  to  royal  favor.  Neither  archbishop  nor  cardinal 
was  he  to  be.  The  wise  Bishop  of  Rennes  had  sur- 
rendered his  apartment  at  Versailles  for  the  use  of 
the  mistress,  and  he  enjoyed  the  sovereign's  good  will ; 
the  foolish  Bishop  of  Soissons  demanded  her  dismissal : 
he  was  now  ordered  to  go  to  his  diocese  and  stay  there. 

Inexperienced  as  Louis  was  in  military  affairs,  he 

*  Journal  de  Barbier,  August,  1744. 

*  Mem.  de  Brancas,  102. 


288  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

could  be  of  little  service  to  veteran  generals  when 
well,  yet  his  illness  had  a  blighting  influence  on  the 
French  arms ;  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  king's  re- 
covery and  as  to  the  changes  in  administration  that 
might  follow  his  death  paralyzed  the  energies  of  the 
commanders  of  the  army  by  the  Rhine. 

Kortunately_Jor  the  French,  Prince  Charles,  the 
Austrian  leader,  was  not  a  dangerous  opponent.  He 
was  an  amiable  man  and  a  fair  officer,  and  he  was  tiie 
brother-in-law  of  Maria  Theresa.  The  queen  dis- 
played no  especial  sagacity  in  the  choice  of  her  gen- 
erals ;  having  entire  confidence  that  the  Lord  would 
assure  victory  to  her  righteous  cause,  she  was  largely 
influenced  by  personal  feelings  in  the  selection  of 
those  who  were  to  carry  out  the  decrees  of  the  Al- 
mighty. Earlier  in  the  war  she  had  been  anxious  to 
furnish  her  husband  opportunities  for  military  dis- 
tinction, and  when  it  was  apparent  that  he  would 
gather  a  very  moderate  crop  of  laurels  on  the  bat- 
tlefield, she  wished  his  brother  to  have  the  glory 
of  invading  France.  The  invasion  would  have  had 
more  important  results  if  it  had  been  conducted  by 
a  different  leader. 

On  July  3,  the  entire  Austrian  army  triumphantly 
crossed  the  Rhine,  with  bands  playing  martial  airs, 
but  they  made  slow  progress  on  the  west  bank,  and  it 
was  soon  evident  that  it  would  be  some  time  before 
Prince  Charles  could  send  bulletins  from  Paris.  He 
was  afraid  to  venture  far  from  the  river,  lest  his  re- 
treat should  be  cut  off,  and  any  hopes  of  aid  from  the 
inhabitants  of  Lorraine,  who  had  so  lately  been  the 
subjects  of  his  family,  were  soon  dispelled.  A  year 
before,  the  Austrian  General  Mentzel  had  issued  a 
proclamation,  in  which  he  bade  the  people  of  Alsace 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     289 

and  Lorraine  to  rise  and  shake  off  the  unbearable 
burden  of  French  tyrainiy,  and  threatened  with  fire 
and  the  sword  those  who  refused  to  accept  the  bless- 
ings of  German  liberty  and  come  to  the  aid  of  their 
lawful  sovereigns.  This  proclamation  met  with  no 
response.  The  inhabitants  of  those  provinces  showed 
no  desire  to  change  their  nationality  ;  they  wished  to 
be  French  and  did  not  desire  to  cast  in  their  lot  with 
Germany,  and  the  people  of  Lorraine  now  made  no 
response  when  their  former  rulers  asked  for  their 
support. 

Though-  Prince  Charles  accomplished  little  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  he  furnished  an  opportunity 
for  action  on  Frederick's  part.  The  Prussian  king  had 
signed  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  France  in  June,  yet 
no  one  could  say  with  certainty  that  he  would  actually 
decide  to  begin  hostilities.  His  purposes  changed 
rapidly,  and  if  a  different  political  position  made  it 
for  his  interest  to  remain  tranquil,  a  treaty  more  or 
less  would  not  affect  his  conduct.  An  invasion  of 
France  would  not  necessarily  have  disturbed  him,  but 
he  did  not  desire  to  see  Alsace  and  Lorraine  added 
to  the  dominions  of  a  queen  who  would  always  remain 
his  bitterest  enemy.  Moreover,  while  the  principal 
Austrian  army  was  engaged  beyond  the  Rhine,  it  was 
an  excellent  time  for  the  invasion  and  perhaps  the 
conquest  of  Bohemia ;  if  the  attempt  was  to  be  made 
at  all,  there  could  be  no  better  opportunity.  For  a 
while  certainly,  Frederick  could  only  encounter  in- 
ferior forces,  and  if  the  French  generals  showed  the 
vigor  to  which  he  constantly  incited  them,  it  might  be 
long  before  Prince  Charles  would  be  in  condition  to 
oppose  the  Prussian  army. 

Frederick   decided,   therefore,    that   he   would   no 


290  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

longer  remain  a  tranquil  observer  of  the  war,  and  he 
had  abundant  pretexts  for  again  beginning  hostilities. 
On  August  13,  1744,  he  issued  a  manifesto  in  which 
/  he  declared  that  he  took  up  arms  solely  to  protect  the 
emperor  from  Austrian  oppression,  and  in  fulfillment 
of  the  duties  imposed  on  him  as  a  faithful  member  of 
the  empire,  to  preserve  its  liberties  and  the  dignity 
of  its  chief.  No  personal  interest,  he  added,  was 
involved  in  the  renewal  of  the  war ;  for  himself  he 
asked  nothing  and  wished  nothing.^  Proclamations 
of  this  nature  rarely  keep  closely  to  the  truth  ;  by  the 
treaties  which  had  been  made,  the  Prussian  king  had 
secured  the  promise  of  a  large  part  of  Bohemia  as  a 
reward  for  his  services,  and  when  the  emperor  grum- 
bled at  the  price,  the  king  threatened  to  put  an  end 
to  the  negotiations  if  his  demands  were  not  complied 
with.2  Frederick  cared  little  for  the  empire  and  less 
for  the  emperor ;  the  hope  of  new  acquisitions  and 
tlie  fear  that  continued  success  would  encourage  Ma- 
ria Theresa  to  attempt  the  recovery  of  Silesia  were 
the  motives  which  led  him  to  violate  the  treaty  of. 
Breslau.^ 

1  Pol  Cor.,  iii.  242-245. 

*  Beilage  zu  Wasners  Bericht,  Tagebuch  KarVs  VII.,  127. 

*  That  Frederick  did  not  violate  the  treaty  of  Breslau  in  the 
hope  of  further  aggrandizement  is  confidently  maintained  by 
Droysen  and  Ranke.  Carlyle  thinks  that  his  hero  always  acted 
right,  no  matter  what  he  did,  or  what  his  motives  were.  Arneth, 
on  the  other  hand,  ii.  401,  says  :  "  Dass  die  wahren  Beweg- 
griinde  des  Konigs  zum  Bruche  des  Breslauer  Friedens  nur  in 
seinem  Begierde  nach  neuer  und  anschnlicher  Gebietsvergros- 
serung  zu  suchen  sind,  daruber  wird  kein  Unparteischer  dem 
leisten  Zweifel  sich  hingeben  konnen."  This  would  be  the  opin- 
ion of  moat  of  those  who  did  not  think  that  a  man  with  the  in- 

•  tellect  of  a  Frederick  must  necessarily  have  the  character  of  a 
St.  Louis.     It  certainly  seems  hard  to  believe  that  the   king 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     291 

With  his  usual  vigor  he  at  once  invaded  Bohemia  i^j 
at  the  head  of  an  army  of  eighty  thousand  men.  This 
sudden  attack  was  almost  as  complete  a  surprise  to 
Maria  Theresa  as  the  first  invasion  of  Silesia,  and  the 
indignation  at  Vienna  was  fierce.  "  He  has  neither 
faith,  nor  honor,  nor  religion,"  said  the  grand  duke 
of  his  enemy ;  "  we  must  crush  this  devil  so  he  can 
never  again  be  an  object  of  fear.  It  seems  that  God 
is  arranging  for  the  punishment  of  him  who  is  the 
cause  of  so  many  evils." 

Frederick  was  little  disturbed  by  such  anathemas, 
and  he  made  rapid  progress  in  Bohemia.  The  Aus- 
trians  had  no  army  with  which  to  oppose  his  advance. 
Early  in  September  he  was  at  Prague,  and  on  the  16th, 
after  a  siege  of  six  days,  the  city  surrendered.  For 
the  second  time  in  three  years  the  citizens  of  that 
town  were  required  to  declare  themselves  subjects  of 
Charles  VII.,  king  of  Bohemia.  The  campaign  had 
opened  prosperously,  but  Frederick  was  now  to  en- 
counter for  the  first  time  the  inconstancy  of  fortune. 
He  had  hoped  that  it  would  be  long  before  the  Aus- 
trians  were  strong  enough  to  embarrass  his  movements, 
and  it  was  with  infinite  disgust  he  learned  that  the 
army  of  Prince  Charles  was  hastening  to  the  scene  of 
action. 

No  sooner  had  Frederick  invaded  Bohemia  than 
Maria  Theresa  felt  constrained  to  postpone  her  visions 
of  French  conquest  and  recall  Prince  Charles  for  her 

took  up  amis  in  his  zeal  for  the  empire,  or  for  the  cause  of 
Charles  VII.,  in  view  of  his  frequent  communications  to  his 
confidential  adviser,  in  which  he  stated  his  apprehensions  as  to 
his  own  position,  .and  then  added  with  perfect  frankness  tliat  the 
eujpcror  must  furnish  the  pretext,  and  that  all  would  be  done  iu 
his  name.     Pol.  Cor.,  ii.  409  et  pas. 


292  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

own  protection.  Even  before  her  orders  reached  him, 
the  prince  felt  that  if  Prussia  was  again  an  enemy, 
his  army  was  needed  on  German  soil,  and  he  decided 
to  fall  back.  He  did  not  find  his  retreat  a  difficult 
undertaking ;  he  had  crossed  the  Ehine  without  oppo- 
sition, and  he  was  allowed  to  recross  it  without  loss  or 
danger.  This  result  could  not  be  charged  to  any  lack 
of  attention  on  Frederick's  part ;  he  was  profuse  in 
his  exhortations  to  harass  the  Austrians  on  their  re- 
treat, to  oppose  their  crossing  the  Rhine,  to  delay  in 
every  way  their  return  to  Bohemia  ;  he  coidd  not  even 
send  a  note  of  congratulation  to  Louis  without  add- 
ing a  prophecy  that  the  king  would  now  add  to  his 
other  glorious  achievements  the  destruction  of  Prince 
Charles's  army.^  If  he  anticipated  such  a  result,  he 
was  doomed  to  a  'bitter  disappointment.  The  army 
opposed  to  Charles  was  under  the  command  of 
Noailles,  and  that  respectable  but  not  brilliant  officer 
was  not  the  man  for  bold  and  rapid  movements ;  in- 
tent on  repelling  Prince  Charles's  advance  into  France, 
he  probably  viewed  his  retreat  with  too  much  satis- 
faction to  be  zealous  in  interrupting  it.  On  August 
23,  the  forces  under  Prince  Charles  began  to  recross 
the  Rhine ;  they  proceeded  undisturbed ;  the  entire 
army  reached  the  right  bank  without  loss,  burned 
their  boats,  loaded  the  pontoons,  and  started  tranquilly 
for  Bohemia.  It  is  quite  probable  that  Noailles 
thought  it  wise  to  let  Charles  escape  easily,  —  "to 
make  a  bridge  of  gold  for  the  retreat,"  as  he  was 
charged  with  saying,  —  but  he  lost  an  opportunity  to 
cripple  the  forces  of  Maria  Theresa  which  did  not 
again  return.     Frederick  was  enraged  and  with  good 

1  Frederick  to  Louis,  August  20, 1744  ;  Pol.  Cor.,  in.  220,  253, 
et  pas. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     293 

reason.  "  In  God's  name,"  he  wrote  Noailles,^  "  I  sup- 
plicate you  to  do  what  you  can  to  put  Seckendorff's 
army  in  condition  to  act  with  vigor  in  Bavaria ;  "  but 
nothing  was  done,  and  Prince  Charles  pursued  his 
peaceful  march  towards  Bohemia.  Noailles  was  not  a 
vigorous  leader,  and  it  must  be  said,  moreover,  that 
the  abuse  and  ridicule  which  Frederick  always  poured 
liberally  on  those  with  whom  he  acted,  and  which 
was  sure  to  come  promptly  to  their  knowledge,  did 
not  render  them  any  the  more  inclined  to  follow  his 
suggestions.  The  Prussian  king  was  entirely  selfish 
in  his  zeal  for  greater  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
French  armies,  but  his  advice  was  judicious,  and  he 
had  reason  to  complain  of  the  inefficiency  of  his  allies  ; 
an  opportunity  had  been  lost,  he  said,  such  as  rarely 
occurred  and  might  never  return.  "  What  can  I  expect 
from  France?  "  he  wrote  Louis  in  his  wrath,  "  or  can 
I  expect  nothing  at  all  ?  "  and  he  poured  out  his  rage 
at  the  imbecility  of  French  generals  and  the  apathy 
of  French  ministers.^ 

By  September  Prince  Charles  reached  Bohemia, 
and  the  Austrians  were  now  superior  in  numbers  to 
the  Prussians.  Unlike  the  venerable  generals  who 
commanded  the  French  armies,  Frederick  could  never 
be  charged  with  timidity  or  remissness,  but  his  cam- 
paign in  Bohemia  was  unfortunate  and  seems  to  have 
been  ill  advised.  After  the  capture  of  Prague  he 
marched  south  in  the  hope  of  pushing  on  to  Vienna, 
but  he  was  harassed  by  a  hostile  population  ;  he  had 
anticipated  less  resistance  than  he  encountered,  and 
when  opposed  by  an  army  equal  to  his  own  he  did 
not  display  the  generalship  of  his  later  years.     His 

1  Frederick  to  Noailles,  September  16,  1744. 

2  Pol.  Cor.,  iii.  284,  294,  et  pas. 


294  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

conduct  was  severely  criticised  by  his  adversaries. 
"  God  has  blinded  him,"  wrote  Prince  Charles  to  his 
brother ;  "  his  movements  are  those  of  a  fool."  ^  The 
Austrians,  under  the  prudent  leadership  of  Marshal 
Traun,  followed  closely,  while  persistently  refusing 
a  battle.  Frederick  had  trouble  in  obtaining  supplies, 
and  his  position  soon  became  perilous.  His  embar- 
rassments were  increased  by  hearing  that  Saxony  had 
declared  against  him,  and  had  sent  twenty  thousand 
men  to  join  the  forces  of  Maria  Theresa.  "  One  should 
never  ill  treat  an  adversary  by  halves,"  said  Freder- 
ick, and  on  another  occasion  he  applied  this  maxim 
in  his  dealings  with  the  Elector  of  Saxony.  But  now 
it  was  too  late ;  Silesia  was  threatened,  and  Frederick 
retreated  from  Bohemia  with  all  possible  haste  in 
order  to  protect  his  own  possessions ;  as  it  was  impos- 
sible to  hold  Prague,  the  Prussian  garrison  evacuated 
the  city  and  made  its  way  into  Silesia,  not  without 
sustaining  serious  loss.  "  The  devil  took  me  into 
Bohemia,"  cried  Frederick.  Many  years  later,  when 
his  fame  was  secure,  he  wrote  in  his  memoirs,  "  No 
general  made  more  mistakes  than  the  king  in  this 
campaign."  ^ 

It  was  the  first  time  that  Frederick  had  encoun- 
tered any  serious  mishaps,  and  his  pride  was  mortified ; 
he  had  scoffed  unmercifully  at  the  mistakes  and  dis- 
asters of  his  allies,  and  to  share  in  similar  calamities 
was  in  a  high  degree  distasteful.  At  the  same  time, 
the  dangers  in  which  his  unfortunate  campaign  had 
involved  him  proved  the  difficulties  of  further  con- 

*  Charles  to  the  grand  duke,  Octoher  6,  1744. 

2  Mem.  de  ma  vie,  ch.  x.  See  Cor.  Pol.  for  1744,  and  Relation 
de  ma  campagne  sent  to  Louis.  In  this  he  said,  "  I  made  mis- 
takes which  caused  the  failure  of  the  whole  campaign,"  iv.  345. 


RENBWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     295 

quests,  and  decided  him  to  make  peace,  if  he  could  be 
assured  of  Silesia.  Past  experience  showed  that  he 
would  not  delay  in  accepting  satisfactory  terms  from 
any  regard  for  his  allies,  and  he  at  once  asked  the  ^.-  y. 
English  to  induce  Maria  Theresa  to  make  peace  with 
him.  The  French,  on  the  other  hand,  continued  to 
carry  out  their  part  under  the  treaty  of  alliance  with 
much  good  faith  and  very  little  vigor,  and  no  pro- 
cedure could  have  been  more  injudicious  in  an  ally  of 
Frederick.  After  Prince  Charles  had  crossed  the 
Rhine  and  made  his  way  undisturbed  into  Bohemia, 
the  French  laid  siege  to  Freiburg.  It  was  a  fortress 
of  importance,  and  the  siege  was  carried  on  in  the 
dilatory  fashion  of  the  campaigns  of  Louis  XV. ;  in 
September  the  French,  seventy  thousand  strong,  en- 
camped before  the  city,  and  not  until  November  did 
the  citadel  surrender.  Immediately  after  this  the 
French  went  into  winter  quarters  and  Louis  returned 
to  Paris.  He  stayed  with  the  soldiers  until  Freiburg 
surrendered,  but  he  was  glad  to  be  done  with  cam- 
paigning for  the  present ;  he  was  somewhat  weary  of 
glory,  and  very  weary  of  virtue. 

No  sooner  had  he  returned  to  Versailles  than  every 
one  began  to  speculate  whether  the  favorite,  who  had 
been  so  ignominiously  driven  from  Metz,  would  again 
resume  her  position  with  the  king.  Not  only  court- 
iers but  foreign  sovereigns  watched  with  attention  the 
attitude  of  the  Most  Christian  King  towards  his  former 
sultana.  Frederick  had  expressed  his  regret  at  her 
disgrace,  and  the  Prussian  ambassador  wrote  that  her 
return  would  be  most  beneficial  to  Prussian  interests.^ 

1  Chambrier  to  Frederick,  November  6,  1744.  Frederick  to 
Schmettau,  August,  1744  :  "  Je  suis  facbd  de  la  disgrace  de  la 
ducbease  de  Cbateauroux." 


296  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV.   • 

Louis  had  already  manifested  his  annoyance  at  the 
promises  of  reformation  which  had  been  drawn  from 
him  in  his  weakness,  and  at  the  proclamation  of  a 
changed  heart,  which  had  been  so  publicly  made  in 
his  name.  But  the  episode  of  Metz  could  not  be  for- 
gotten, and  the  king  hesitated  to  show  how  promptly, 
when  well,  he  returned  to  modes  of  life  which  he  had 
piously  abjured  when  ill.  No  one  who  knew  his  char- 
acter could  doubt  of  the  final  result ;  Mme.  de  Chateau-  ^ 
roux  had  been  outraged  by  the  ignominy  of  her  dis- 
missal, and  she  now  comforted  herself  with  hopes  of  a 
speedy  revenge  upon  her  enemies.  "  The  queen  wishes 
to  become  a  person  of  importance,"  she  wrote  Riche- 
lieu, "but  this  will  not  last  long.  I  will  have  the 
health  of  a  porter,  so  I  can  have  time  enough  to 
punish  my  enemies,  and  punished  they  shall  be,  you 
may  be  sure  of  it."  "  If  I  return  to  favor,  as  I  do 
not  doubt  I  shall,"  she  wrote  again,  discussing  the 
Duke  of  Noailles,  "  how  I  will  hate  him ;  how  I  will 
persecute  him.  You  need  not  talk ;  I  will  overthrow 
him  for  good.  I  will  make  them  see  of  whom  they 
have  been  making  sport."  ^  She  did  not  have  long  to 
wait  for  her  restoration  to  favor.  The  king  arrived 
from  the  army  on  the  14th  of  November,  and  two 
weeks  later  it  was  officially  announced  that  Mme.  de 
Chateauroux  and  her  sister  would  again  take  posses- 
sion of  their'  apartments  at  Versailles.  "  How  they 
have  treated  us ! "  exclaimed  the  favorite  to  Louis 
when  they  met  for  the  first  time  after  her  expulsion 
from  Metz.2 

In  all  this  there  was  nothing  very  strange ;  Louis 
JCV.  was  not  the  first  man  who  promised  to  reform 

*  Letters  of  Cbateanroux  to  Kichelien,  cited  by  BrogHe. 
'  Mem.  de  Brancas,  105. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     297 

when  in  fear  of  death,  and  thought  better  of  the 
promise  when  he  found  himself  restored  to  health ; 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  not  to  spealc  of  prior  cen- 
turies, one  could  find  in  the  history  of  French  kings 
abundant  instances  of  immorality  quite  as  scandalous 
as  anything  in  the  relations  of  Louis  XV.  and  Mme. 
de  Chateauroux.  What  was  novel  about  this  affair 
was  the  indignation  and  the  public  comment  which  it 
excited.  It  was  this  freedom  of  criticism,  this  im- 
patience of  conduct  and  conditions  which  had  long 
been  viewed  with  tranquillity,  that  was  new  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  such  feelings  became  more 
pronounced  as  the  age  advanced.  Neither  morals 
nor  honesty  were  at  any  lower  ebb  at  this  period  than 
often  in  the  past,  —  in  the  latter  part  of  the  century 
there  was  unquestionable  improvement ;  the  condition 
of  the  people  was  not  worse  than  it  had  been,  it  was 
better ;  the  relics  of  feudal  oppression  were  not  more 
burdensome  than  they  had  been,  they  were  less  bur- 
densome ;  taxation  was  no  more  grievous,  legislation 
was  more  liberal,  yet,  in  1789,  conditions  which  had 
been  borne  with  resignation  in  the  past  produced  a 
revolution  that  overthrew  the  whole  political  and  social 
system.  It  is  one  of  the  symptoms  of  this  change  in 
public  sentiment  that  in  1744  a  storm  of  indignation 
was  aroused  by  conduct  against  which  a  hundred 
years  before  no  voice  would  have  been  raised.  Not 
only  would  it  have  been  hazardous  to  criticise  the 
relapses  of  Louis  XIV.,  such  as  his  return  to  Mme. 
de  Montespan  after  Bossuet's  exhortations  had  led 
him  to  renounce  her  society,  but  such  comments  would 
have  been  deemed  revolutionary,  a  sort  of  lese  majesty  ; 
a  judgment  ujion  the  moral  conduct  of  the  sovereign 
would  liave  been  regarded  as  beyond  the  jurisdiction 
of  a  subject. 


298  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

It  was  not  so  in  1744.  "  This  intelligence  is  revolt- 
ing to  the  whole  population  of  Paris,"  writes  a  chron- 
icler. "  The  step  is  regarded  as  a  terrible  one.  The 
Jansenists  predict  many  calamities  from  it.  The 
king,  it  is  said,  should  not  he  less  mindful  of  religion 
than  a  private  man."  ^  The  chronicler  of  the  court 
notes  in  similar  terms  the  impression  produced  by  the 
recall  of  the  favorite.  "  Even  Versailles,"  he  says, 
"  where  usually  people  talk  little  on  these  subjects,  has 
not  been  altogether  free  from  such  conversation." 
The  discreet  duke  adds,  indeed,  "  The  most  judicious 
keep  silence."  ^  This  outcry  6f  offended  morality 
may  not  be  regarded  as  very  important ;  but  it  is  sig- 
nificant because  for  the  first  time  we  find  such  open 
and  unsparing  criticism,  not  of  the  government,  but 
of  the  king  himself.  Nothing  could  be  more  unim- 
portant to  posterity  than  whether  a  king  had  a  mis- 
tress more  or  less,  but  when  the  public  began  to  regard 
the  sovereign,  not  as  a  superior  being,  to  be  loved  and 
reverenced  no  matter  what  he  did,  but  as  a  man  to 
be  judged  and  condemned,  it  marked  a  great  change 
in  public  feeling.  It  was  said  that  the  market-women 
of  Paris  expressed  their  disapprobation  of  Louis's 
relapse  from  virtue  by  declaring  that  they  would  say 
no  more  paters  for  the  king ;  it  is  certain  that  when 
his  life  was  again  in  danger  there  was  no  repetition 
of  the  universal  grief  which  had  been  excited  by  his 
illness  at  Metz. 

Mme.  de  Chateauroux  was  not  to  enjoy  the  triumph 
over  her  enemies  which  she  had  so  eagerly  desired. 
On  the  day  the  king  informed  her  that  he  regretted 
the  indecency  with  which  she  had   been   treated   at 

^  Journal  de  Barhier,  November,  1744. 
'  Mem.  de  Luynes,  vi.  166  et  pas. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     299 

Metz  and  recalled  her  to  his  favor,  she  was  attacked 
by  a  fever ;  she  grew  rapidly  worse,  and  on  the  8th 
of  December  death  ended  the  adventurous  career  of 
the  favorite  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven.  Louis  shed 
a  few  tears ;  his  tears  always  flowed  easily,  and  were 
always  soon  dined.  Even  death  did  not  lessen  the 
public  discontent ;  the  duchess  was  buried  without 
pomp;  it  was  feared  that  the  populace  would  not 
spare  her  coffin  if  the  funeral  were  in  the  busy  hours 
of  the  day ;  very  early  her  remains  were  carried 
through  deserted  streets  to  their  final  resting-place. 

Attention  was  soon  diverted  from  the  fate  of  the 
favorite  to  the  death  of  a  person  of  far  more  elevated 
station.  When  Frederick  invaded  Bohemia,  the  Em- 
peror Charles  VII.  was  filled  with  a  desire  to  profit 
by  this  diversion  and  establish  himself  again  in  his 
much  loved  Munich.  The  Austrian  troops  were  with- 
drawn for  the  defense  of  Bohemia,  and  this  enabled 
Charles  to  enjoy  a  few  hours  of  triumph  at  the  close 
of  his  career.  He  proceeded  exultantly  to  his  cap- 
ital. On  the  road  he  visited  the  Duke  of  Wurtem- 
berg  and  received  the  honors  which  were  dear  to  his 
lieart.  The  duke  descended  from  his  carriage  and 
kissed  the  emperor's  hand.  "  I  extended  it,"  says 
Charles,  "  but  without  descending  from  my  carriage."  ^ 
Though  the  emperor  could  not  always  pay  his  butch- 
er's bill,  he  never  forgot  his  dignity.  When  he  reached 
the  palace  all  the  family  and  followers  of  the  duke 
came  out  to  greet  the  illustrious  guest,  and  with  equal 
formality  they  attended  his  departure.  On  October 
23,  1744,  he  made  his  solemn  entry  into  Munich. 
The  rule  of  his  family  had  always  been  a  kindly  one, 
and  through  all  his  misfortunes  Charles  had  been  dear 
1  Tagehuch  KarVs  VIL,  137,  138. 


v/ 


300  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

to  his  people ;  the  streets  were  filled  with  men  and 
women  weeping  with  joy,  as,  amid  the  ringing  of  bells 
and  the  firing  of  cannon,  the  empei'or  made  his  way 
to  the  palace  of  his  ancestors.  "  My  heart  was  full 
of  the  love  I  have  for  my  faithful  subjects,"  wrote 
Charles,  whose  heart  was  as  good  as  his  head  was 
weak.i  These  hours  of  triumph  were  brief.  Freder- 
ick was  obliged  to  retreat  from  Bohemia,  and  the  Aus- 
trians  again  entered  Bavaria.  The  emperor  appealed 
pathetically  to  Louis  to  protect  his  capital  from  his 
enemies.  Belle  Isle  visited  Munich,  and  the  unfor- 
tunate emperor  wept  in  his  arms  at  the  prospect  of 
having  again  to  undergo  the  bitterness  of  exile.  But 
the  French  had  advised  him  not  to  reoccupy  Munich, 
and  they  were  not  inclined  to  send  a  powerful  army 
far  from  France  in  the  hope  of  repelling  the  Austrian 
advance.  "  I  cannot  neglect  the  security  of  my  own 
frontiers,"  answered  Louis  ;  "  while  I  understand  the 
fondness  of  your  majesty  for  your  capital,  yet  the 
strongest  desires  must  yield  to  the  requirements  of 
war  and  the  demands  of  policy."  ^  This  refusal  to 
come  to  his  aid  was  the  final  blow  to  the  ill-fated 
protege  of  France ;  his  health  had  long  been  infirm  ; 
disappointment  and  anxiety  had  shattered  him  men- 
tally and  physically ;  another  term  of  exile,  poverty, 
and  mortification  was  more  than  he  had  the  fortitude 
to  encounter.  On  January  20,  1745,  Charles  VIL 
died  in  his  forty-eighth  year.  He  had  been  emperor 
for  three  years,  and  during  almost  all  of  that  time  he 
had  been  one  of  the  most  unhappy  men  in  Europe. 
^^  The  French  could  now  have  closed  the  disastrous 
war  in  which  they  were  engaged  with  honor  and  per- 

»  Tagebuch,  140. 

*  Letter  of  Louis,  January  3,  1745. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     301 

haps  with  some  advantage,  and  except  the  aggran- 
dizement of  the  Spanish  infante  there  no  longer 
seemed  to  be  anything  to  fight  about.  ^  It  was  to 
wrest  the  imperial  crown  from  the  House  of  Austria>^ 
that  the  war  had  been  begun,  but  only  a  man  bereft 
of  intelligence  would  believe  that  this  endeavor  could 
again  be  made  with  success.  It  was  impossible  to  ' 
obtain  a  majority  in  the  college  of  electors  for  any 
candidate  opposed  by  Austria.  Maria  Theresa  was  no 
longer  unknown  and  helpless ;  her  fame  for  vigor  and 
constancy  was  established,  her  armies  were  numerous, 
her  allies  were  active.  Austria  under  her  rule  was  quite 
as  powerful  as  it  had  been  under  Charles  VI.  Even 
if  votes  could  be  obtained  for  any  other  candidate,  it 
hardly  seemed  possible  that  a  prince  could  be  found 
insane  enough  to  accept  the  office.  The  experience  of 
Charles  VII.  showed  the  probable  fate  of  him  who 
should  hold  this  dignity  without  having  hereditary 
dominions  as  extensive  as  those  of  Austria  to  sustain 
himself  in  it.  The  minor  German  princes  preferred 
their  peaceful  palaces,  the  delights  of  their  Residenzen 
and  Lustenhausen,  to  flying  from  city  to  city  before 
Austrian  armies ;  an  imperial  crown,  the  wearer  of 
which  would  probably  have  to  live  in  exile  and  sub- 
sist on  charity,  had  few  attractions. 

Maria  Theresa  had  long  been  filled  with  a  passion- 
ate desire  to  see  the  crown  of  Charlemagne  placed  on 
the  brow  of  her  beloved  husband.  The  campaigns 
of  the  last  year  had  shown  her  that  the  conquest  of 
French  provinces  would  not  be  as  easy  a  task  as  she 
had  hoped ;  there  is  little  doubt  that  if  France  had 
consented  to  the  elevation  of  the  grand  duke  to  the 
imperial  throne,  Maria  Theresa  would  have  been 
'  Argenson  to  Rennes,  July  1,  1746,  Aff.  Etr.  Esp. 


302  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

ready  to  make  peace,  and  very  possibly  would  have 
consented  to  some  modification  of  the  French  frontier 
in  Flanders.  France  was  indeed  allied  with  Prussia, 
with  Bavaria,  and  with  Spain,  but  neither  good  policy 
nor  good  faith  required  her  to  prosecute  the  war  in 
their  behalf.  The  young  Elector  of  Bavaria  soon  ob- 
tained peace  for  himself,  and  was  left  in  the  tranquil 
possession  of  his  electorate  upon  abandoning  all  claims 
on  the  imperial  crown  or  the  inheritance  of  Maria 
Theresa.  With  quick  political  foresight,  Frederick 
no  sooner  heard  of  the  death  of  Charles  than  he 
offered  to  make  peace  and  support  the  grand  duke  for 
the  empire,  if  he  could  be  assured  of  Silesia  and 
obtain  some  moderate  advantages  in  addition.  Only 
a  quixotic  loyalty  demanded  that  a  nation  should 
sacrifice  itself  for  an  ally  who  was  endeavoring  to 
secure  his  own  interests  by  abandoning  the  alliance. 
To  Spain  France  was  bound  by  an  unwise  treaty,  one 
of  the  fruits  of  her  unfortunate  success  in  putting  a 
Bourbon  on  the  Spanish  throne.  But  ten  years  be- 
fore, in  very  similar  circumstances,  Fleury  had  decided 
that  his  first  duty  was  to  his  own  country;  he  had 
obtained  advantages  for  France,  instead  of  carrying 
on  a  costly  war  to  satisfy  the  greed  of  the  Spanish 
queen,  and  a  wise  and  patriotic  Frenchman  would 
now  have  pursued  a  similar  course. 

Unfortunately,  the  men  who  had  the  destiny  of 
France  in  their  hands  at  this  time  were  not  wise ;  if 
they  had  imitated  the  example  of  their  ally  Freder- 
ick, and  considered  only  the  interests  of  their  owi> 
land,  the  course  of  events  for  the  next  twenty  years 
might  have  been  changed.  It  was  not  often  that 
Louis  XV.  exercised  a  decided  influence  in  shaping 
French  policy ;  on  this  occasion  he  did,  and  his  usual 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     303 

good  judgment  was  biased  by  his  personal  desires  and 
jealousies.  The  results  of  the  last  campaign  had  been 
satisfactory,  and  Louis  was  eager  to  take  part  in 
another ;  the  seat  of  war  would  be  in  Flanders,  where 
the  French  armies  had  often  been  successful,  and  where 
the  king  could  himself  share  in  the  glory  to  be  gained. 
He  was  influenced  also  by  another  and  a  less  credita- 
ble feeling.  As  the  male  line  of  the  House  of  Austria 
had  failed,  it  was  the  former  Duke  of  Lorraine,  the  ^^' 
husband  of  Maria  Theresa,  who  was  a  candidate  for 
the  imperial  throne.  The  prospect  of  his  elevation 
was  disagreeable  to  Louis  XV.,  and  offended  a  weak 
vanity  from  which  he  was  not  free.  The  Duke  of 
Lorraine  had  been  his  neighbor  and  almost  his  sub- 
ject ;  even  regarded  as  an  independent  sovereign, 
the  duke  was  a  very  unimportant  personage  compared 
with  the  king  of  France.  When  he  visited  the  French 
court  he  was  entitled  to  no  greater  honors  than  many 
French  nobles ;  he  paid  homage  for  the  duchy  of  Bar 
to  the  French  king,  and,  humbly  kneeling,  swore  fidel- 
ity to  him  as  his  feudal  superior.^  But  if  the  duke^* 
were  made  emperor  he  would  assume  the  position  of 
greatest  dignity  in  Europe;  he  would  outrank  the 
king  of  France  in  the  society  of  sovereigns :  it  was 
the  case  of  a  poor  neighbor  suddenly  rising  to  a  supe- 
rior social  rank ;  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  as  emperor 
seemed  a  parvenu,  and  Louis  did  not  like  parvenus.^ 

*  The  irieruoirs  of  St.  Simon  are  full  of  the  sqiuibhles  of 
the  dukes  of  Lorraine  anil  some  of  the  Freneh  nobility,  and  the 
duke  is  never  more  eloquent  than  in  denouncing  what  he  calls 
the  black  artifices  of  the  House  of  Lorraine  to  obtain  special 
privileges  and  honors  at  the  French  court. 

-  Chambrier  to  Frederick,  February  22,  1745.  "  II  y  a  dans 
le  coeur  du  roi  de  France  une  jalousie  et  une  haino  telle  (|U(^  <es 
deux  passions  se  fonts  cntir  dans  un  snpdrieur  pour  un  iufiirienr." 


304  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV.  , 

Another  man  had  much  to  do  in  shaping  the  policy 
of  the  country  at  this  crisis,  and,  actuated  by  the  most 
patriotic  motives,  he  succeeded  in  doing  nothing  that 
he  should  and  everything  that  he  should  not  have  done. 
The  character  of  the  Marquis  of  Argenson  possesses 
an  unusual  interest.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  good 
descent,  though  connected  with  parliamentary  families 
rather  than  with  the  nobility  of  the  sword.  His 
father  became  famous  by  the  ability  he  displayed  as 
lieutenant  of  police  under  Louis  XIV. ;  his  brother, 
a  man  of  readiness  and  good  parts,  was  secretary  of 
war  under  Louis  XV.  In  the  liberality  of  his  views, 
in  the  justness  of  many  of  his  observations,  the  mar- 
quis himself  was  unusual  in  his  class  and  his  age.  In 
the  last  half  of  the  century  the  aristocracy  were  often 
revolutionary  in  expression,  if  not  at  heart,  but  such 
sentiments  found  no  utterance  among  the  nobility 
fifty  years  earlier.  Argenson  was  one  of  the  first  who 
felt  the  dim  forebodings  of  different  social  conditions, 
who  heard  the  distant  murmurs  of  the  Revolution. 

His  active  mind  devised  schemes  of  political  change 
which,  if  not  always  sound,  were  always  ingenious ; 
he  planned  the  deliverance  of  Italy  from  the  rule  of 
foreigners  at  an  era  when  the  dreams  of  mediaeval 
Guelf s  had  been  forgotten  and  the  modern  visions  of  a 
united  Italy  had  not  come  into  existence.  At  a  time 
when  America  was  regarded  by  most  Continental  poli- 
ticians as  not  very  much  more  important  than  Mada- 
gascar, and  when  no  one  dreamed  that  the  struggling 
colonies  of  North  America  would  form  an  independent 
republic,  Argenson's  prophetic  eye  saw  the  possibili- 
ties of  a  marvelous  development  in  population  and 
wealth  ;  the  day  would  come,  he  declared,  whon  the 
traveler  would  start  to  visit  some  populous  and  civil- 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     305 

ized  city  in  California  as  then  one  took  the  coach  to 
Meaux.i  He  sketched  a  form  of  government  for  his 
own  country,  in  which  all  privileges  and  immunities 
should  be  swept  away,  where  judicial  offices  should 
cease  to  be  sold,  and  local  interests  should  be  admin- 
istered by  those  who  were  concerned.  Amid  the  cor- 
ruption and  selfishness  of  the  age  of  Louis  XV. 
Argenson  wrote,  "  There  is  a  trade  by  which  one 
could  gain  prodigiously,  and  that  is  to  play  the  part 
of  a  perfectly  honest  man,"  ^  and  of  all  his  ideas  this 
was  the  most  original. 

This  role  he  himself  attempted  and,  sad  to  say,  it 
resulted  in  total  failure.  Louis  XV.  could  hardly  ^ 
have  foimd  a  worse  adviser  than  this  intelligent  and 
upright  man.  Argenson,  like  many  a  similar  char-  '■^ 
acter,  wise  in  the  closet,  proved  a  very  simpleton  in 
action ;  he  knew  much  of  political  theories  and  little 
of  politicians ;  he  was  lacking  in  quick  perception,  in 
skill  in  dealing  with  others ;  he  never  understood  the 
character  of  men  who  were  neither  honest  nor  truth- 
ful, and  by  such  he  was  surrounded.  No  statesmen 
do  more  harm  than  those  who  are  always  right  in  their 
intentions  and  always  wrong  in  their  judgments;  it 
would  have  been  well  for  France  if  at  this  time  she 
could  have  had  the  counsels  of  a  man  who  was  selfish 
and  immoral  and  sagacious,  like  Dubois,  instead  of 
one  who  was  upright  and  disinterested  and  wrong- 
headed,  like  Argenson. 

The  stammering  Amelot  had  long  been  out  of  favor 
with  Louis  XV. ;  he  encountered  also  the  ill  will  of 
Mme.  de  Chateauroux  and  of  Frederick,  and  in 
April,  1744,  he  was  dismissed.     For  a  while  the  king 

*  Argenson,  Pense'es,  500. 
2  Memoires,  i.  359. 


306  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

acted  as  his  own  minister  for  foreign  affairs,  but  no 
sovereign  could  attend  to  the  detail  of  such  an  office, 
and  least  of  all,  Louis  XV.  It  was  necessary  to  fill 
the  vacancy,  and  Villeueuve,  who  had  represented  the 
French  court  at  Constantinople,  was  chosen  for  the 
place.  His  appointment  was  unlooked  for,  and  his 
conduct  was  stupefying.  As  the  fortunate  man  made 
his  way  to  the  royal  closet,  in  answer  to  the  summons, 
all  the  world  of  Versailles  gathered  about  him  to 
present  their  felicitations  and  crave  his  favor.  He 
entered  the  closet,  and  soon  an  amazing  rumor  began 
to  circulate  in  the  antechamber;  the  new  minister  had 
pleaded  his  years  and  infirmities ;  he  felt  unequal  to 
the  responsibilities  of  the  office  and  had  declined  to 
accept  it.  Such  abnegation  was  no  virtue  in  the  eyes 
of  courtiers  ;  no  one  then  believed  that  the  post  of 
honor  was  a  private  station  ;  the  man  who  declined  a 
place,  of  which  the  emoluments  were  large  and  the 
patronage  enormous,  was  regarded  as  an  imbecile  and 
an  ingrate  to  the  king.  As  Villeneuve  came  from  his 
audience,  and  again  passed  through  the  antechamber, 
those  who  had  sought  his  favor  a  few  minutes  before 
drew  away  to  avoid  the  contagion  of  his  society ;  he 
made  his  way  through  the  crowd  amid  a  chilling 
silence  and  the  contempt  of  all  beholders.* 

The  selection  of  Villeneuve  was  followed  by  another 
which  was  as  little  expected  ;  to  the  surprise  of  the 
court  and  the  equal  surprise  of  the  nominee,  in  No- 
K-vember,  1744,  the  Marquis  of  Argenson  was  declared^ 
secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs,  and  he  eagerly 
accepted  a  position  which  he  had  long  desired. 

Two  months  later  Charles  VII.  died,  and  that  event 
changed  the  asi>ect  of  the  political  horizon.     Neither 
*  Mem.  de  Bemis,  i.  91. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     307 

Louis  nor  Argeiison  was  inclined  to  make  overtures 
to  Maria  Theresa,  nor  to  seek  a  favorable  peace  as  a 
condition  of  the  unojiposed  election  of  her  husband  as 
emperor.  "  We  must  spend  our  last  crown  and  lose 
our  last  soldier,"  wrote  Argenson,  "  rather  than  allow 
the  grand  duke  to  become  emperor."  ^ 

But  it  was  difficult  even  to  suggest  another  candi- 
date. It  was  idle  to  advocate  the  claims  of  the  new 
Elector  of  Bavaria ;  he  was  a  youth  of  eighteen,  who 
had  inherited  the  needs  and  embarrassments  of  his 
father,  and  he  wisely  occupied  himself  in  seeking  an 
alliance  with  Maria  Theresa  in  the  hope  of  recover- 
ing his  ancestral  possessions.  The  only  person  whom 
the  French  could  suggest  as  a  possible  candidate  in 
opposition  to  the  grand  duke  was  Augustus  III.,  the 
Elector  of  Saxony  and  king  of  Poland.  Unfortu- 
nately, nothing  could  be  done  in  the  matter  without 
the  aid  of  Frederick,  and  Frederick  loathed  the  Elec- 
tor of  Saxony.  Not  discouraged  by  this,  Argenson 
sent  an  envoy  to  the  court  of  Dresden  to  assure  Au- 
gustus of  the  support  of  France  in  his  candidacy  for 
the  imperial  throne.  Augustus  had  little  taste  for 
such  adventures ;  he  was  already  occupied  in  endeavors 
to  obtain  some  reward  from  Maria  Theresa  in  return 
for  his  support  of  her  husband,  and  the  offer  of 
French  aid  was  declined  with  diplomatic  affability. 

But  Argenson  had  a  mind  of  peculiar  and  unfortu- 
nate subtlety  ;  when  once  he  had  formed  a  theory  that 
Augustus  desired  to  be  emperor,  no  evidence  could 
make  him  believe  that  he  was  mistaken  ;  the  more 
strenuously  the  elector  declined  to  be  a  candidate,  the 
more  certain  was  the  minister  that  he  really  lusted 
for  the  dignity,  and  only  wished  to  be  urged  before 
1  Mem  of  August  12,  1715. 


308  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

declaring  liis  candidacy.  "  Flattered  by  the  hope  of 
this  dignity,"  he  wrote  of  Augustus,  "  liis  desire  for  it 
will  grow  stronger  every  day,  and  will  at  last  lead 
him  to  overcome  all  obstacles  in  the  way."  ^  The 
French  ambassador  at  Berlin  was  instructed  to  press 
these  views  on  Frederick,  but  they  only  excited  the 
ridicule  of  that  clear-sighted  monarch;  to  his  good 
common  sense  such  fine-spun  theorizing  seemed  absurd 
in  the  field  of  politics.  "  Your  predilection  for  the 
Saxons  is  incomprehensible  to  me,"  he  wrote  Valori. 
"You  are  so  blind  that  nothing  can  make  you  see 
the  light.  Read  the  reports  of  St.  Severin,  and  if 
these  don't  serve  as  hellebore,  I  will  declare  you 
incurable.  Adieu,  my  good  Valori ;  have  yourself 
bled  three  times  a  day  and  drink  a  great  deal  of 
water."  ^  No  hellebore  could  cure  Argenson's  de- 
lusions, and  the  French  continued  to  offer  a  vain 
and  irritating  opposition  to  the  election  of  the  grand 
duke. 

Frederick,  on  the  other  hand,  was  engaged  in  nego- 
tiations for  peace,  and  hoped  to  receive  some  a<l- 
vantage  in  return  for  his  vote  in  favor  of  Austria's 
candidate.  At  first  he  demanded  "  a  good  morsel," 
and  when  it  was  evident  that  Maria  Theresa  had  no 
thought  of  surrendering  more  territory,  he  offered  his 
support  if  he  could  be  assured  of  Silesia.^  He  was 
Jiopuful  of  the  success  of  these  negotiations,  but  he 

*  Argenson  to  Valori,  March,  1745.  Frederick  said  coii- 
tcinptuuHsly  of  the  man  who  sacrific«'d  the  interests  of  his  country 
in  his  zeal  for  the  Prussian  king,  "  lie  is  one  of  tliose  feeble  in- 
tellects, who,  when  they  have  formed  a  prejudice,  can't  be  made 
to  abandon  it."     Pol.  Cor.,  v.  302. 

•^  Pol.  Cor.,  iv.  115,  April  9,  1745. 

8  Frederick  to  Andri^,  Jaimary  26,  February  19,  July  25, 
1745  ;  Podcwils,  April  2,  etc. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     309 

prepared  for  their  failure.  The  campaign  in  Bohemia 
liad  exhausted  his  ready  money,  and  he  now  asked 
Louis  XV.  for  a  subsidy.  Even  Frederick  did  not 
wish  this  request  to  reach  Versailles  just  as  it  was 
announced  to  the  world  that  he  had  made  a  separate 
peace  and  for  the  second  time  left  France  in  the  lurch. 
Accordingly,  Podewils  was  instructed  to  examine  the 
dispatches,  and  if  peace  could  be  obtained  on  satis- 
factory terms,  to  inform  the  French  that  the  emperor's 
death  had  worked  a  dissolution  of  the  alliance  between 
France  and  Prussia,  and  Frederick  had  therefore  de- 
cided to  make  peace  for  himself  ;  but  should  Maria 
Theresa  refuse  any  concessions,  the  minister  must 
forward  forthwith  the  demand  for  a  subsidy,  and  urge 
with  all  possible  force  on  the  French,  that  by  the 
terms  of  the  treaty  they  were  bound  to  furnish  this 
aid  for  the  needs  of  a  faithfid  ally.^ 

The  odds  turned  against  this  bold  and  unscrupulous 
player.  Maria  Theresa  yielded  only  when  forced  by 
dire  necessity,  and  it  was  always  most  reluctantly  that 
she  would  yield  anything  to  Frederick.  She  now  re- 
fused to  listen  to  the  advice  of  the  English,  or  to  have 
any  dealings  with  one  whom  she  stigmatized  as  a  royal 
outlaw.  She  declared  that  Frederick's  bad  faith  had 
forfeited  the  grant  of  Silesia  ;  she  summoned  the  in- 
habitants of  that  province  to  return  to  the  allegiance 
of  their  lawful  sovereign,  and  she  would  make  no 
peace. 

The  prospects  of  the  Prussian  king  seemed  dark. 
The  young  Elector  of  Bavaria  had  deserted  the  alliance, 
the  king  of  Poland  was  hostile,  even  the  empress  of 

'  Sricli  is  tlie  substance  rind  in  jiart  almost  the  very  words  of 
Frederick's  letters  of  instruction  to  Podewils,  April  2,  11,  May 
8  ;  to  Louis,  May  2  ;  to  Chambrior,  July  5. 


310  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Kussia,  on  whose  friendship  he  had  relied,  experienced 
a  sudden  change  of  heart  and  intimated  that  she 
might  be  found  among  his  adversaries ;  his  enemies 
were  numerous,  his  friends  were  lukewarm,  his  funds 
were  low.  But  it  was  at  such  emergencies  that  the 
real  greatness  of  Frederick's  character  appeared.  One 
tires  of  the  perpetual  trickery  of  his  conduct,  and  of 
letters  in  which  his  contempt  for  good  faith  is  so  ap- 
parent that  it  seems  strange  any  one  should  have  been 
deceived  by  them.  But  when  dangers  thickened,  when 
all  deserted  him,  when  he  could  rely  only  on  his  own 
genius  to  escape  utter  ruin,  the  indomitable  and  heroic 
character  of  the  man  appeared  in  every  line  he  wrote, 
and  the  Seven  Years'  war  was  to  show  that  the  pro- 
fessions he  now  made  were  no  idle  form  of  words. 
His  faithful  minister,  Podewils,  was  alarmed  at  the 
coalition  against  Prussia,  and  warned  his  master  that 
he  was  hazarding  the  fortune  and  the  existence  of  his 
country,  and  it  might  be  well  to  yield  something  and 
save  the  rest.^  "  You  think  like  an  honest  man,"  re- 
plied Frederick,  "  and  if  I  were  Podewils  I  should  be 
of  the  same  opinion.  But  I  have  crossed  the  Rubicon. 
I  will  sustain  my  power,  or  all  shall  perish  and  the 
Prussian  name  be  buried  with  me.  ...  It  has  been 
my  glory  to  increase  the  power  of  my  house ;  I  have 
played  an  important  part  among  the  crowned  heads 
of  Europe,  and  this  I  will  sustain  at  the  risk  of  my 
fortune  and  my  life.  ...  If  misfortune  comes,  bear  it 
with  magnanimity  and  constancy ;  surely  I  shall  suffer 
the  most.  ...  If  I  must  perish,  it  shall  be  with  glory 
and  sword  in  hand.     Learn  from  one  who  has  not 

1  "  Votre  Miijestd  se  reudrait  responsable  k  Elle-meme  ct  \i 
toutu  sa  pustdritd,  si  Elle  voulait  niettrc  toute  la  furtuae  de  sou 
^tat  au  basard  d'etre  reuversde  du  fond  au  comble.^' 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     311 

listened  often  to  Eisner's  sermons,  nor  any  other  ser- 
mons, that  we  must  oppose  a  brow  of  iron  to  the  mis- 
fortunes we  may  encounter."  ^ 

Both  France  and  Prussia  now  prepared  for  an 
active  campaign.  Frederick  desired  the  French  to 
send  a  powerful  army  into  Germany;  a  diversion 
there  might  draw  away  some  of  the  forces  of  Maria 
Theresa,  and  render  it  easier  for  him  to  oppose  the 
Austrians  in  Silesia.  But  this  the  French  were  not 
inclined  to  do ;  their  misfortunes  in  Bohemia  and 
Bavaria  had  destroyed  any  taste  for  ventures  in  the 
interior  of  a  foreign  country,  far  removed  from  any 
base  of  supplies ;  they  resolved  to  use  their  forces 
nearer  home,  to  the  great  dissatisfaction  of  their  ally. 

Your  campaign  in  Flanders  will  do  me  no  good, 
said  Frederick  ;  a  campaign  in  Bavaria  or  Westphalia 
will  do  us  no  good,  replied  the  French.  The  Low 
Countries  were  selected  as  the  field  of  principal  ac- 
tivity, and  wisely  so  ;  there  French  armies  could  easily 
reach  the  scene  of  war,  and  conquests  might  be  useful 
to  France  herself.  By  April  ninety  thousand  men 
were  under  arms  in  the  Netherlands,  and  this  great 
force  was  commanded  by  Marshal  Saxe,  the  ablest 
general  in  Europe. 

France  has  usually  been  prolific  in  great  soldiers, 
but  in  the  long  decline  of  the  monarchy,  military 
genius  shared  in  the  decrepitude  of  an  infirm  state ; 
from  the  end  of  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession 
until  the  outbreak  of  the  wars  of  the  Revolution,  no 
Frenchman  proved  himself  a  general  of  the  first  order. 
The  ill  success  of  the  French  armies  thus  far  had  been 
to  some  extent  due  to  the  mediocrity  of  their  leaders: 
Belle  Isle  was  energetic  and  courageous,  but  he  could 
•  Frederick  to  Podewils,  April  27,  29,  1745. 


312  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

not  be  regarded  as  an  officer  of  unusual  ability; 
Broglie  and  Noailles,  through  long  military  careers, 
had  shown  themselves  cautious,  prudent,  well-trained 
soldiers,  who  rarely  made  serious  blunders  and  never 
achieved  brilliant  results ;  those  who  owed  their  mili- 
tary positions  to  their  rank  or  their  favor,  like  Conti, 
or  Clermont,  or  Richelieu,  were  still  less  qualified 
for  important  commands.  It  was  to  the  genius  of  a 
foreigner  that  France  was  indebted  for  the  victories 
'which  changed  the  course  of  the  war  and  checked  the 
formidable  coalition  against  her. 

Maurice  de  Saxe  was  a  soldier  of  fortune,  but  his 
genius,  his  adventurous  life,  and  his  restless  ambition 
made  him  one  of  the  most  famous  of  his  class.  No 
vision  of  power  or  fame  could  be  too  remote  to  tempt 
his  fancy ;  no  undertaking  was  so  difficult  as  to  dis- 
courage his  ardor ;  no  dissipation  too  reckless  to  amuse 
his  leisure.  He  was  the  manner  of  man  that  we  could 
expect  from  a  knowledge  of  his  ancestry.  Many  mem- 
bers of  the  ancient  and  illustrious  House  of  Konigs- 
marck  had  been  soldiers  of  fortune ;  they  had  been 
equally  known  for  bravery  and  licentiousness,  and  they 
had  sought  adventure  and  glory  under  many  flags. 
Maurice  was  not  the  first  of  the  family  to  enter  the 
service  of  France.  His  great  uncle  had  served  under 
Turenne,  had  earned  the  praise  of  that  illustrious 
commander,  and  had  received  a  sword  of  honor  from 
Louis  XIV.  An  uncle  of  Maurice  fled  from  England 
to  escape  the  odium  of  a  murder  he  was  charged  with 
having  planned,  and  afterward  served  with  valor  in 
the  French  army ;  strict  in  his  religious  belief,  if  not 
in  his  morality,  he  refused  to  renounce  his  Protestant 
faith  at  the  request  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  died  a  soldier 
of  the  republic  of  Venice,  fighting  against  the  Turk. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     313 

Another  uncle  of  Maurice  was  the  ill-fated  Philip 
of  Konigsmarck,  the  lover  of  Sophia  Dorothea,  wife 
of  the  future  George  I.  of  England,  who  met  a  mys- 
terious fate  as  a  result  of  that  intrigue.  The  tragedy 
was  involved  in  such  obscurity  that  it  was  not  known 
whether  Philip  was  dead  or  imprisoned;  his  sister, 
the  charming  Aurora  of  Konigsmarck,  resolved  to 
solve  the  mystery  and  to  avenge  her  brother,  and  in 
this  quest  she  applied  for  aid  to  Frederick  Augustus, 
then  Elector  of  Saxony  and  afterwards  king  of  Poland. 
She  did  not  get  the  revenge  she  sought,  but  she  secured 
a  royal  lover  instead,  and  in  1696  Maurice  de  Saxe 
was  born,  the  illegitimate  son  of  the  Elector  of  Sax- 
ony and  of  the  beautiful  Aurora.  His  father,  Augus- 
tus the  Strong,  as  he  was  called,  did  much  to  increase 
the  ranks  of  bastard  princes ;  it  was  said  that  he  had 
three  hundred  and  fifty-four  illegitimate  children,  and 
even  if  with  Augustus,  as  with  Don  Juan,  the  fame  of 
his  exploits  was  exaggerated  by  the  Leporellos  who 
sang  of  them,  the  young  Maurice  did  not  learn  a  rigid 
morality  from  such  a  parent.  Augustus  was  a  Pro- 
testant by  birth,  and  became  a  Catholic  from  ambi- 
tion, but,  as  has  been  truly  said,  he  always  remained 
a  Mahometan  in  morals.^  Among  all  the  German 
courts,  his  was  preeminent  for  luxury,  for  prodigality, 
and  for  license. 

Maurice  early  began  a  career  of  dissipation,  but  he 
displayed  also  a  taste  for  war  and  the  qualities  of  a 
soldier.  When  a  lad  of  twelve  he  served  with  credit 
in  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  and  exhibited 
such  a  reckless  courage  that  Prince  Eugene  warned 
him  not  to  confound  temerity  with  valor.  While  he 
was  still  a  young  man  his  unquiet  ambition  led  him 
^  L^montey,  Histoire  de  la  regence. 


814  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

into  many  wild  schemes.  He  was  elected  Duke  of 
Courland,  and  with  a  handful  of  followers  he  endeav- 
ored, though  in  vain,  to  hold  his  principality  against  a 
Hussian  army.  It  was  said  that  either  Anna  Ivanovna 
or  Elizabeth  Petrovna,  both  of  whom  in  turn  ruled 
over  Russia,  woiJd  have  been  willing  to  take  for  a 
husband  this  dating  yoimg  adventurer,  but,  perhaps 
because  he  was  uncertain  which  to  choose,  he  finally 
got  neither.  In  1721,  he  entered  the  service  of  France, 
and  purchased  the  colonelcy  of  a  regiment.  When 
he  was  not  engaged  in  roaming  over  Europe  in  search 
of  a  throne  or  a  royal  bride,  he  lived  for  the  most  part 
in  Paris,  and  he  became  a  leader  in  the  most  prodigal 
and  dissipated  society  that  could  be  found  in  that 
capital.  The  famous  actress,  Adrienne  Lecouvreur, 
was  one  of  his  mistresses,  and  when  lie  was  seeking 
his  fortune  in  Courland  she  pledged  her  jewels,  of 
enormous  value,  to  assist  the  ambition  of  her  lover. 

In  the  war  of  the  Polish  Succession  he  served  cred- 
itably, and  was  promoted  to  be  a  lieutenant-general, 
but  peace  left  him  again  to  seek  occupation  in  the 
pleasures  of  Paris.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  of 
the  Austrian  Succession  Maurice  was  a  man  of  forty- 
four  ;  he  was  favorably  known  as  an  officer,  but  better 
known  for  his  gallantries  and  his  reckless  dissipation, 
and  the  uneasy  ambition  which  had  involved  him  in 
so  many  chimerical  projects  was  still  unsatisfied.  At 
last  his  opportunity  came,  and  he  won  fame  in  the  few 
years  that  were  left  him. 

It  was  at  Prague  that  Maurice  first  attracted  the 
attention  of  Europe  to  his  skill  as  a  soldier.  The 
capture  of  a  great  city  by  a  handful  of  men,  accom- 
plished almost  without  bloodshed,  was  an  extraordi- 
nary achievement  in  those  days  of  tedious  sieges ;  it 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK,     315 

was  a  different  kind  of  warfare  from  the  slow  circum- 
vallations  by  which  Louis  XIV.  had  occupied  months 
in  taking  towns  less  strong  and  less  important  than 
the  capital  of  Bohemia. 

During  the  succeeding  campaign  in  Bavaria,  when 
the  French  armies  were  under  timid  and  infirm  lead- 
ers like  Maillebois  and  Broglie,  Maurice  was  the  only  ' 
general  in  whose  skill  and  courage  the  soldiers  had 
confidence.  "  I  have  never  seen  an  army  so  poorly 
governed  as  this,"  wrote  an  officer ;  "  if  the  Count  of 
Saxe,  who  has  to  attend  to  everything,  were  removed, 
I  don't  know  what  would  become  of  us."  ^  Notwith- 
standing such  services,  Maurice  had  not  yet  attained 
the  highest  rank  in  his  profession.  If  Louis  XV.  was 
not  pious  he  was  bigoted,  and  he  hesitated  to  make 
a  Protestant  marshal  of  France.  He  distrusted  also 
Maurice's  restless  temperament.  "  Shall  we  confide 
to  him  alone  the  safety  of  a  province  ?  "  the  king 
wrote  to  Noailles ;  "  he  who  is  a  Huguenot,  who  wishes 
to  become  a  sovereign,  and  who,  when  he  is  opposed, 
says  always  that  he  will  seek  some  other  service."  ^ 

But  at  last  both  the  king  and  the  public  felt  that 
the  Saxon  general  was  the  only  man  who  could  save 
the  country  from  the  invasion  which  threatened  it. 
In  1744  Maurice  de  Saxe  received  a  marshal's  baton ;  »/ 
he  was  the  only  Protestant,  except  Lowendahl,  upon 
whom  this  honor  was  conferred  from  the  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  until  the  wars  of  Napoleon.^ 
In  1745,  he  was  given  command  of  the  army  in  the 
Low  Countries. 

On  May  8,  Louis  joined  the  army.     In  this  cam- 

*  Letter  of  Count  Poniatowski,  cited  by  Taillandier. 

2  Louis  to  Noailles,  August  1,  1743. 

^  Lowendahl,  who  was  also  a  foreigner,  became  a  Catholic. 


316  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

paign,  as  in  all  his  campaigns,  the  king  proved  him^ 
self  a  good  soldier ;  he  was  courageous ;  unlike  his 
,  predecessor,  he  had  no  fear  of  taking  the  risk  of  a 
battle ;  he  was  willing  to  expose  his  own  person,  and 
to  incur  the  chance  of  defeat  when  there  was  a  rea- 
sonable hope  of  victory,  and  he  had  the  good  sense 
always  to  follow  the  advice  of  experienced  generals. 
The  army  of  the  allies  in  the  Low  Countries  was 
about  fifty  thousand  strong,  and  was  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  then  a  young  man  of 
twenty-two,  with  Marshal  Konigsegg  as  his  adviser. 
The  French  laid  siege  to  Tournay,  and  Cumberland  re- 
solved to  go  to  the  relief  of  the  town.  His  route  was  by 
way  of  Mons,  and  in  order  to  check  his  advance  Mau- 
rice led  the  bulk  of  the  French  army  towards  Fontenoy. 
This  movement  did  not  escape  criticism.  By  dividing 
his  forces  the  critics  declared  that  he  exposed  himself 
to  a  serious  risk.  It  was  uncertain  by  which  road  the 
allies  would  finally  endeavor  to  reach  Tournay ;  by 
changing  their  route  they  could  surprise  and  over- 
power the  forces  left  at  the  siege  of  the  town  and 
cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  rest  of  the  army.  Maurice's 
fame  as  a  general  was  not  yet  established,  he  had  won 
no  great  battle,  and  this  was  his  first  appearance  as 
commander-in-chief  of  the  principal  army  in  the  field. 
His  physical  condition  also  excited  grave  doubts  as 
to  his  ability  to  conduct  a  campaign  with  success. 
When  Maurice  was  chosen  to  command  the  army  it 
seemed  that  his  opportunity  for  glory  had  come  too 
late.  The  exposures  of  past  years,  aggravated  by  a 
life  of  unceasing  dissipation,  had  told  upon  his  power- 
ful frame ;  he  was  suffering  from  dropsy ;  his  face 
was  so  pale,  his  body  so  swollen,  and  his  movements 
so  infirm,  that  it  was  thought  he  had  not  many  months 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     317 

to  live ;  he  was  unable  to  ride  on  horseback,  and  he 
was  carried  about  the  army  in  a  sort  of  wicker  chair 
or  basket,  which  he  called  his  cradle.  It  was  not 
strange  that  many  declared  that  the  marshal's  in- 
firmities had  weakened  his  mental  powers,  and  felt  at 
liberty  to  question  the  wisdom  of  his  tactics.  These 
nmrmurs  were  silenced  by  the  judicious  conduct  of 
the  king:.  He  refused  to  interfere  with  Maurice's 
plans,  and  turning  to  tl>e  marshal,  in  the  presence  of 
a  group  of  courtiers  and  officers,  he  said  in  a  loud 
voice,  "  When  I  chose  you  to  command  my  army,  I 
intended  that  you  should  be  obeyed  by  every  one,  and 
I  myseK  will  be  the  first  to  set  the  example." 

Maurice's  infirmities  did  not  affect  the  enthusiasm  of 
his  men.  During  long  years  of  ill  success  the  French 
soldiei-s  had  lost  confidence  in  their  officers,  and  as  a 
result  they  had  shown  little  of  their  usual  dash  and 
courage.  When  Vauvenargues  was  with  the  army  in 
Bohemia,  he  wrote  that  the  soldiers  approached  the 
enemy  like  a  body  of  Capucin  monks  starting  for 
matins. 

Now  all  were  eager  for  action  and  confident  of 
success.  The  ai^proaching  contest  suggested  interest- 
ing historical  parallels.  Both  the  king  of  France  and 
the  dauphin  were  present  with  the  French  army ;  the 
English  were  under  the  command  of  a  son  of  their 
king.  It  was  the  first  time,  said  Louis,  that  the  armies 
of  the  two  nations  had  met  under  such  leadership 
since  the  battle  of  Poitiers,  and  he  hoped  now  for 
better  fortune  than  had  befallen  King  John  when  he 
encountered  the  Black  Prince.  Maurice  desired  Louis 
to  station  himself  on  the  further  side  of  the  Scheldt 
during  the  engagement,  that  his  retreat  might  be 
easier  in  case  of  defeat,  but  the  king  refused  to  follow 


318  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

such  counsels,  and  in  the  most  doubtful  hours  of  the 
day  he  remained  at  Calonne,  watching  the  battle  from 
a  spot  not  too  distant  to  be  reached  by  an  occasional 
shell. 

In  numbers  the  two  armies  were  now  nearly  equal, 
the  allies  had  almost  fifty  thousand  men,  and  the 
French  about  fifty-five  thousand,  but  in  position  the 
latter  had  a  decided  advantage.  Maurice  had  sta- 
tioned his  army  by  the  Scheldt,  and  at  the  towns  of 
Antoine,  Fontenoy,  and  Barry  strong  batteries  were 
placed  blocking  the  roads  leading  towards  Toumay. 
These  towns  were  equidistant,  and  the  front  of  the 
French  army  extended  about  two  miles  from  Antoine 
to  Barry.  The  position  of  Barry  was  further  strength- 
ened by  the  existence  of  an  extensive  wood,  through 
which  the  enemy  could  with  difficulty  make  its  way, 
while  Fontenoy,  at  the  centre  of  the  line,  was  strongly 
fortified.  Thus  any  advance  of  the  allies  towards 
Tournay  was  checked,  while  an  attempt  to  break  the 
line  of  an  army  equal  or  superior  in  numbers  and 
strongly  fortified  was  a  hazardous  undertaking.  If 
the  English  had  contented  themselves  with  skirmish- 
ing and  cutting  off  supplies,  such  a  course,  Maurice 
said,  woidd  have  proved  embarrassing  to  him ;  but 
the  young  Duke  of  Cumberland  was  eager  for  a  battle, 
and  an  immediate  attack  was  decided  upon.^ 

By  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  May  11  the  firing 
began,  and  by  six  the  engagement  became  general. 
It  resulted  in  a  repulse  of  the  allies  all  along  the  line. 
The  Dutch  held  the  left  and  advanced  upon  Antoine, 

*  Carlyle  says  that  Marshal  Konigsegg  advised  against  an  im- 
mediate attack,  but  was  overruled  by  Cumberland.  This  seems 
to  be  a  mistake,  judging  by  Konigsegg's  own  letter  the  day  of 
the  battle,  cited  in  Arneth,  iii.  69  and  note. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     319 

but  they  were  met  by  a  hot  fire  from  the  batteries  in 
the  village  and  the  other  side  of  the  Scheldt,  which  dis- 
couraged their  zeal ;  they  fell  back  and  took  no  fur- 
ther part  in  the  battle  ;  they  did  nothing,  says  Carlyle, 
"  but.  patiently  expect  when  it  should  be  time  to  run."  ^ 
Such  was  the  vigor  and  pertinacity  of  the  English 
assault  that  the  time  for  running  was  long  postponed. 
Maurice  checked  those  who  congratulated  him  on  the 
repulse  of  the  enemy  before  Antoine.  "  We  have 
now  to  do  with  the  English,"  he  said,  "  and  they  will 
be  harder  to  digest." 

The  advance  of  the  English  upon  Barry  was,  however, 
neither  successful  nor  vigorous ;  whether  embarrassed 
by  the  woods  or  discouraged  by  the  French  intrench- 
ments,  the  attack  was  carried  on  in  a  half-hearted 
manner,  and  nothing  was  accomplished.  It  was 
aroimd  the  village  of  Fontenoy  that  the  real  battle 
was  fought.  This  was  the  centre  of  the  position,  and 
its  capture  would  cut  the  French  army  in  two.  The 
English  charged  repeatedly,  but  the  place  was  too 
strong  to  be  carried ;  at  ten  o'clock  the  allies  had  been 
repulsed  at  every  point ;  the  battle  seemed  won,  but 
really  it  had  hardly  begun.  Convinced  that  it  was 
impossible  to  carry  either  Fontenoy  or  Barry,  Cum- 
I  berland  resolved  to  force  his  way  between  the  two 
^  towns,  and  thus  penetrate  beyond  the  fire  of  the  bat- 
teries which  had  checked  his  advance.  Between  the 
towns  extended  a  long  ravine,  which  Maurice  had  not 
fortified,  because  he  thought  no  army  would  be  rash 

'  Arneth  criticises  Carlyle  severely  for  saying  that  the  Aus- 
trians  were  stationed  with  the  Dutch  before  Antoine  and  de- 
served the  same  condemnation  for  cowardly  conduct.  The  Aus- 
trian historian  apparently  proves  that  Carlyle  was  either  mistaken 
as  to  the  facts,  or  careless  in  his  way  of  stating  them. 


320  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

enough  to  enter  it ;  the  descent  into  it  was  steep,  the 
defile  was  filled  with  fallen  trees,  and  forces  working 
their  way  through  would  be  exposed  to  the  French 
fire,  both  from  Fontenoy  and  Barry.  Undismayed  by 
such  difficulties,  the  English  resolved  on  the  attempt ; 
it  was  impossible  for  the  cavalry  to  get  through,  and 
the  cannon  were  drawn  by  men  ;  though  exposed  to  a 
fierce  fire  on  either  side,  the  infantry  doggedly  worked 
their  way  over  the  obstacles.  The  English  column 
slowly  traversed  the  ravine,  and  at  last  emerged  on 
the  rising  ground  at  the  further  side,  in  the  rear  of 
Fontenoy.  As  they  came  over  the  ridge  of  the  hill 
the  French  thought  at  first  it  was  but  a  body  of  strag- 
glers, but  an  army  appeared  before  them  in  solid 
column,  fifteen  thousand  strong.  The  opposing  forces 
were  within  fifty  feet  of  each  other,  and  Lord  Charles 
Hay,  advancing  in  front  of  his  regiment,  pulled  off 
his  hat  to  the  French  officers,  who  politely  returned 
the  salute.  "  Tell  your  men  to  fire ! "  cried  Hay. 
"  No,"  replied  the  Count  of  Auteroche,  "  we  never 
fire  first."  This  famous  incident  is  so  well  established 
by  the  testimony  of  those  who  were  present  that  it 
cannot  be  questioned,  but  it  has  been  much  miscon- 
strued. It  was  not  a  display  of  excessive  courtesy, 
most  unseemly  when  the  fate  of  a  battle  and  the  lives 
of  soldiers  were  at  stake ;  it  was  a  rule  of  tactics,  and 
not  a  bit  of  rodomontade,  to  which  Auteroche  gave 
utterance.^     In  a  book  called  "  Mes  Reveries,"  writ- 

'  Tlic  statements  given  by  Valfons,  Souvenirs,  143,  and 
D'Espagnac,  Maurice  de  Saxe,  ii.  91,  Iwth  present  at  the  battle, 
seem  to  establish  the  correctness  of  tliis  incident,  which,  when 
understood,  loses  much  of  its  theatrical  character.  A  statement 
of  Lord  Charles  Hay  is  cited  by  Carl^de,  but  does  not  contra- 
dict the  French  accouuta,  though  it  gives  some  other  talk  be- 
tween the  uflicers. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     321 

ten  by  Mauiice  de  Saxe,  and  in  which  he  stated  the 
principles  of  military  tactics,  we  find  this  rule  laid 
down  with  emphasis  :  When  two  battalions  approach, 
the  one  that  fires  first  is  beaten.  "  You  are  beaten," 
he  says,  "  if  you  fire  against  an  enemy  approaching 
with  rapidity.  Your  troop  flatters  itself  that  its  fire 
will  annihilate  the  enemy,  and  when  it  sees  how  little 
eifect  it  has  produced,  it  will  surely  run  ;  the  company 
which  has  fired  is  out  of  countenance  when  it  sees 
approaching  through  the  smoke  those  who  have  re- 
served their  fire."  In  those  days  of  poor  guns,  the 
number  who  fell  at  a  discharge  was  often  very  small. 
"  I  have  seen  whole  discharges  which  did  not  kill 
four  men,"  he  says,  "  and  I  have  never  seen  enough 
harm  done  to  arrest  an  advance  ;  "  firing  made  more 
noise  than  it  did  harm,  he  continues ;  it  was  at  the 
bayonet  charge  that  men  were  killed,  and  he  who 
did  the  killing  won  the  battle.  At  the  battle  of  Cas- 
tiglione,  he  tells  us,  the  French  approached  the  enemy 
without  firing ;  at  twenty-five  paces  the  Imperialists 
fired  in  good  order  and  with  all  possible  precautions, 
but  the  French  at  once  dashed  forward  and  routed 
them.i 

The  opinion  of  a  great  general  like  Maurice  is  cer- 
tainly entitled  to  consideration  ;  the  inefficacy  of  fire- 
arms made  war  a  very  different  affair  from  what  it  is 
now,  and  these  principles  can  be  found  laid  down,  not 
only  by  Saxe,  but  by  oiher  French  authorities  ;  it  was 
thought  that  a  company  which  had  fired,  and  saw  the 
enemy  aj)proaehing  with  their  guns  still  loaded  and 
their  bayonets  set,  was  v(ay  apt  to  break  and  run, 
and  that  disadvantage  more  than  compensated  for  the 
few  men  who  might  fall  at  the  first  discharge.  Tho 
1  Mes  Reveries,  i.  70,  77,  80,  81,  et  pas. 


322  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

famous  exchange  of  courtesies  at  Fontenoy  was  in 
reality  only  obedience  to  a  rule  of  tactics. 

The  English  had  now  penetrated  into  the  heart  of 
the  French  position,  and  the  result  of  the  battle  seemed 
very  problematical.  Louis  was  advised  to  retreat,  but 
he  stubbornly  refused  to  do  so,  and  if  the  English  had 
been  finally  successful,  he  might  have  shared  the  fate 
of  King  John  at  Poitiers  and  completed  the  histori- 
cal parallel.  Frederick  said  that  if  Cumberland  had 
now  divided  his  forces  and,  turning  either  way,  taken 
the  French  on  the  flank,  he  might  have  annihilated 
his  opponents  and  gained  a  great  victory.  If  such  a 
manoeuvre  was  possible,  it  was  not  attempted,  but  the 
English  phalanx  repulsed  with  heavy  losses  the  re- 
peated attacks  which  the  French  made  upon  it.  Yet 
Maurice  was  guilty  of  no  idle  waste  of  life  in  these 
assaults.  The  English  had  no  cavalry  and  could  not 
pursue  the  broken  French  regiments  ;  exposed  to  these 
constant  attacks,  their  column  made  slow  progress,  and 
in  the  mean  time  Maurice  had  an  opportunity  to  re- 
organize his  forces  and  draw  reinforcements  from  other 
quarters.^  At  two  o'clock  a  final  assault  settled  the 
fate  of  the  day.  Strong  bodies  of  troops,  still  com- 
paratively fresh,  attacked  the  English  on  either  flank, 
while  a  newly  placed  battery  opened  a  hot  fire  upon 
them  from  the  front.  At  last  the  column  broke  and 
the  battle  of  Fontenoy  was  won.  The  French  were 
too  much  exhausted  by  seven  hours  of  severe  fight- 
ing to  attempt  any  prolonged  pursuit,  and  Maurice 
was  not  wont  to  disturb  himself  with  pursuing  an 
enemy  when  the  glory  of  victory  had  been  secured. 
The  loss  of  the  allies,  including  prisoners,  was  over 
ten  thousand,  and  the  French  lost  in  killed  and 
1  D'Espagnac,  ii.  98,  99. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     323 

wounded  about  seven  thousand,  including  nearly  six 
hundred  officers.^ 

Fontenoy  was  the  first  victory  of  importance  which 
the  French  had  won  during  almost  five  years  of  war- 
fare ;  it  was  gained  over  their  ancient  and  traditional 
enemies ;  their  king  had  borne  his  share  in  the  dan- 
gers of  the  day,  and  it  excited  unbounded  enthusiasm. 
Illuminations  blazed  and  Te  Deums  were  sung  in 
honor  of  the  glorious  event;  it  was  celebrated  in 
countless  effusions  by  poets  of  all  degrees,  from  Vol- 
taire down  to  the  obscurest  scribbler  of  the  rue  St. 
Denis.  The  victory  of  Fontenoy  insured  the  capture 
of  Tournay,  which  soon  surrendered.  Oudenarde, 
Ostend,  and  Bruges  were  afterwards  taken  with  little 
trouble. 

While  the  French  were  victorious  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, the  king  of  Prussia  was  equally  successful  in 
Silesia.  His  task  was  more  difficult  because  he  was 
opposed  by  superior  numbers,  but  Frederick's  skill 
and  the  discipline  of  his  soldiers  counterbalanced  any 
advantage  in  the  size  of  the  Austrian  armies.  At  this 
time,  as  so  often  in  his  adventurous  career,  the  king 
risked  all  rather  than  yield  anything,  and  the  possi- 
bilities of  ruin  which  appalled  Podewils  did  not  alarm 
Frederick ;  he  trusted  to  his  own  genius  and  to  the 
blunders  of  his  adversaries,  and  between  the  two  he 

^  For  the  battle  of  Fontenoy  see  the  reports  of  Maurice,  Lei- 
tres  de  Maurice  de  Saxe,  t.  i.,  and  the  official  English  reports.  In 
D'Espagnac's  Maurice  de  Saxe  is  a  full  and  correct  account  of 
the  battle,  given  by  an  officer  who  took  part  in  it  and  was  on 
/ntimate  terms  with  the  French  commander.  The  Souvenirs  of 
Valfons,  who  also  took  part  in  the  engagement,  are  valuable, 
though  less  accurate  than  the  account  of  D'Espagnac.  Broglio 
has  given  an  interesting  account  of  the  battle.  There  is  much 
discrepancy  as  to  the  losses  on  either  side. 


324  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

always  secured  a  safe  deliverance.  Yet  no  one  realized 
better  than  he  the  risks  against  which  neither  genius 
nor  vigilance  could  surely  guard.  "The  operations 
of  war  are  very  complicated,"  he  wrote  in  a  letter  at 
this  time,  "  and  require  the  concurrence  of  design  and 
chance  ;  provisions  must  be  sufficient,  information  cor- 
rect, an  infinite  number  of  officers  must  execute  orders 
"with  intelligence  and  skill ;  a  chance  turns  to  success 
the  faults  of  generals,  or  ruins  the  most  skillful  dispo- 
sitions ;  the  chapter  of  accidents  is  always  large  and 
the  poor  generals  are  much  to  be  commiserated,  for 
the  public  knows  only  enough  to  condemn  the  unfor- 
tunate and  extol  the  successful."  ^  His  situation  was 
full  of  peril,  the  existence  of  the  state  hung  upon 
a  hair,  he  wrote  Podewils  ;  but  if  ruin  woidd  have 
followed  defeat,  safety  was  assured  by  victory ;  at 
Hohenfriedberg  on  the  4th  of  June,  1745,  the  Aus- 
trian and  Saxon  army  was  completely  defeated  with 
a  loss  of  sixteen  thousand  men,  and  Maria  Theresa's 
hopes  to  reduce  Prussia  to  a  mere  electorate  of  Bran- 
denburg, an  unimportant  factor  in  German  politics, 
were  blasted.^  Frederick  usually  attached  little  impor- 
tance to  Te  Deums,  but  he  felt  that  there  was  much 
cause  for  thankfulness.  "Tedeumize,"  he  wrote  his 
minister,  "  as  is  fitting."  ^ 

It  was  at  Hohenfriedberg  that  Frederick  displayed 
for  the  first  time  military  talents  of  a  high  order,- 
MoUwitz  was  won  by  the  generalship  of  Schwerin 
after  the  king  had  fled  from  the  field ;  success  at 
Chotusitz  was  due  to  the  steadfastness  and  discipline 
of  the  Prussian  soldiers ;  at  Hohenfriedberg,  Freder- 

1  Pol.  Cirr.,  iv.  217. 

2  Ih.,  181,  260,  etc. 

«  lb.,  187,  "  Faites  tedeumiser,"  etc. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.      325 

ick  showed  that  skill  as  a  tactician  in  the  hour  of  bat- 
tle which  was  to  make  him  the  most  famous  general 
of  Europe.  The  result  was  the  more  gratifying  to 
him  because  he  had  derived  very  little  satisfaction 
from  the  success  of  his  allies  at  Fontenoy.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  Frederick  was  not  free  from  a  certain  feelins: 
of  jealousy  that  another  monarch  should  win  battles ; 
the  future  was  to  show  how  little  cause  Frederick  the 
Great  had  to  be  jealous  of  Louis  XV.  as  a  rival  for 
military  glory,  but  the  Prussian  king's  fame  as  a 
general  was  not  then  established ;  at  all  events  he 
contented  himself  with  congratulating  Louis  on  the 
results  at  Fontenoy  in  a  brief  postscript,  and  even 
this  he  delayed  until  he  had  himself  gained  the  battle 
of  Hohenfriedberg.^  He  had,  moreover,  more  substan- 
tial reasons  for  feeling  little  pleasure  at  the  French 
victory.  It  was  with  a  very  ill  will  that  Frederick 
saw  the  French  concentrate  their  forces  in  the  Low 
Countries,  and  certainly  a  powerful  divei'sion  in  Bavaria 
or  Westphalia  would  have  been  far  more  useful  to 
him  than  a  victory  at  Fontenoy.  "  A  campaign  in 
Flanders,"  he  wrote,  "  will  be  as  useful  to  the  king  of 
Prussia  as  one  in  Monomotapa."  "  If  the  king  had 
just  come  from  an  insane  asylum,  he  might  be  per- 
suaded that  a  campaign  in  Flanders  would  be  of  great 
service  to  him,  but  as  it  is,  neither  he  nor  the  smallest 
drummer  boy  in  his  army  believe  it."  "  If  the  Span- 
ish make  a  descent  on  the  Canary  Islands,  the  king  of 
France  takes  Tournay,  or  Thomas  Tulican  lays  siege 
to  Babylon,  it  is  all  the  same  thing,  and  nobody  be- 
lieves this  will  make  the  slightest  change  in  the  war 
in  Bohemia  or  Moravia."  ^     The  victory  at  Fontenoy, 

*  Frederick  to  Louis,  June  4,  1745. 
2  Mem.  of  May  16,  1745. 


326  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

he  growled,  was  of  as  much  importance  to  him  as  a 
battle  won  on  the  shores  of  the  Scamander. 

The  Prussian  king  had  grounds  for  discontent  with 
his  allies  other  than  their  refusal  to  carry  on  the  cam- 
paign in  the  manner  most  advantageous  to  him.  It 
was  with  reluctance  that  he  had  asked  a  subsidy  from 
France ;  though  his  feelings  were  not  delicate,  he  was 
loath  to  become  a  French  pensioner.  But  his  treas- 
ury was  empty  and  his  needs  were  great,  and  he  de- 
manded a  subsidy  in  the  peremptory  tone  that  was 
habitual  with  him  in  dealings  with  his  associates.  If 
the  Prussian  treasury  was  empty,  that  of  France  was 
bankrupt,  and  Frederick's  constant  reproaches  did 
not  make  his  allies  any  better  natured  or  any  more 
inclined  to  inconvenience  themselves  to  accommodate 
him.  He  asked  for  twelve  million  francs,  and  he 
wanted  them  without  delay  ;  by  dint  of  the  efforts  of 
Argenson,  always  his  friend  and  admirer,  it  was  at 
last  decided  to  offer  a  subsidy  of  five  hundred  thousand 
livres  a  month ;  it  would  have  been  wiser  to  refuse  the 
request  altogether.  "  It  is  a  subsidy  that  miglit  be 
offered  to  a  Landgrave  of  Darmstadt,"  said  Frederick 
contemptuously,  and  he  refused  to  accept  it.^ 

Throughout  their  second  alliance  with  Frederick  the 
policy  of  the  French  was  the  most  unwise  they  could 
have  adopted ;  they  neither  acceded  to  all  his  re- 
quests, which  possibly  would  have  kept  him  faithful 
to  the  cause,  nor  did  they  consider  only  their  own  in- 
terests and  leave  him  to  his  fate,  as  he  was  sure  to 
leave  them  at  the  proper  time.  Frederick's  conduct 
towards  his  allies  in  1742  was  treacherous,  but  no 
such  charge  can  be  made  in  1745.  If  the  French 
continued  to  trust  him,  it  showed  that  they  would  not 
'  Mim.  de  Valori,  i.  241. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     327 

see,  for  the  king  made  no  effort  to  conceal  the  fact 
that  he  should  consider  only  his  own  interests.  "  God 
keep  me  from  embarking  again  with  such  ungrateful 
friends  and  such  miserable  politicians,"  he  said,  and 
in  his  letters  to  the  French  court  he  stated  the  same 
thing  in  hardly  less  vigorous  language.^ 

The  English  had  not  been  able  to  induce  Maria 
Theresa  to  abandon  her  hopes  of  humbling  Frederick, 
but  they  resolved  to  support  her  no  longer  in  such 
an  endeavor.  On  August  26,  1745,  a  convention  was  i^ 
signed  between  England  and  Prussia  by  which  these 
countries  made  peace,  and  Frederick  was  guaranteed 
the  possession  of  Silesia. 

The  queen  found  consolation  for  the  desertion  of 
her  English  allies  in  success  in  another  quarter  ;  a 
desire  as  dear  to  her  heart  as  the  recovery  of  her  lost 
Silesia  was  at  last  gratified.  From  the  first  it  had 
been  apparent  to  any  one  who  was  not  blinded  by 
prejudice  that  the  election  of  the  grand  duke  as  em- 
peror was  a  certainty,  and  if  there  had  been  any 
doubt,  this  result  was  insured  by  the  conduct  of  the 
French.  The  laws  of  the  empire  required  that  the 
electors  should  be  free  from  intimidation,  and  that  no 
armies  should  approach  the  place  where  they  met.  It 
was  a  rule  never  respected  when  there  was  a  contested 
election,  and  the  presence  of  forty  thousand  French 
soldiers  had  materially  helped  to  secure  the  choice  of 
Charles  VII.  But  now  the  troops  under  Conti,  the 
only  French  army  in  Germany,  recrossed  the  Rhine. 
"  We  will  act  on  those  German  princes  metaphysically, 
instead  of  physically,"  said  Argenson,  with  his  usual 
philosophical  optimism,  "  and  all  good  German  pa- 
triots, freed  from  the  irritation  excited  by  a  French 
»  Pol  Cor.,  iv.  305. 


328  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

army,  will  not  hesitate  to  cast  their  votes  for  the  Elec- 
tor of  Saxony."  It  was  with  good  cause  that  Freder- 
ick prayed  God  to  deliver  hiiu  from  such  politicians. 
Maria  Theresa  was  not  troubled  by  these  scruples, 
and  the  power  of  Austria  was  exerted  in  bringing 
the  electors  to  the  support  of  the  grand  duke.  There 
was  little  trouble  in  inducing  them  to  adopt  this 
course ;  when  once  French  pressure  was  removed,  the 
electoral  body  naturally  reverted  to  the  support  of 
the  Austrian  candidate,  as  it  had  done  for  centuries. 
The  meeting  of  the  electoral  college  was  called  for 
September.  Frederick  contented  himself  with  pro- 
testing mildly,  and  directed  his  representatives  to  take 
no  part.  The  French  were  placed  in  a  less  dignified 
position ;  they  continued  to  protest  against  the  elec- 
tion, and  no  one  heeded  their  protests ;  they  pressed 
the  claims  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  no  one  would 
listen  to  their  arguments  ;  even  their  representative, 
on  the  plea  that  his  passports  were  not  sufficient,  was 
turned  back  and  failed  to  gain  admission  into  Frank- 
fort. As  a  final  humiliation,  the  ambassador  of  Au- 
gustus III.,  the  Saxon  elector,  whom  Argenson  had 
selected  as  the  candidate  of  France,  announced  that 
his  own  vote  would  be  cast  for  the  grand  duke.  This 
was  the  last  blow,  and  even  the  hopefulness  of  Argen- 
son could  not  bear  up  under  it ;  Augustus  was  an 
ingrate  and  an  imbecile,  the  minister  complained,  he 
might  have  been  the  master  and  he  chose  to  be  the 
slave.^  Such  laments  did  not  improve  the  situation  -, 
on  the  13th  of  September,  1745,  Maria  Theresa's 
husband,  the  former  Duke  of  Lorraine  and  the  pres- 
ent Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  was  unanimously  elected 
as  chief  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  and  on  the  4th 
*  ArgensoD  to  St.  Severin,  August,  1745. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     329 

of  October  he  was  consecrated  emperor  as  Francis 
the  First. 

It  was  not  the  emperor  who  was  the  centre  of  at- 
traction to  the  great  multitude  gathered  at  Frank- 
fort for  this  fete ;  the  eyes  of  all  were  turned  upon 
the  heroic  queen,  who  had  sustained  herself  against 
Europe  in  arms,  who,  left  alone  and  friendless,  had 
saved  from  destruction  the  heritage  of  her  forefathers, 
who  had  regained  for  her  family  the  dignity  which 
had  so  long  been  theirs,  and  now  placed  on  her  hus- 
band's brow  the  crown  of  Charlemagne.  It  was  with 
good  reason  that  the  plaudits  of  the  multitude  wen*; 
up  as  Maria  Theresa  stood  in  the  balcony  of  the 
Hotel  de  Ville,  waving  her  handkerchief  and  crying 
*'  Long  live  Francis  First,"  when  her  husband  went 
by  in  solemn  procession. 

The  election  of  Francis  gratified  a  desire  which  the 
queen  had  pursued  with  unwavering  tenacity  from  the 
day  of  her  father's  death;  but  vengeance  upon  her 
despoiler  was  equally  dear  to  her  heart,  and  to  accom- 
plish this  she  needed  peace  with  France.  England  had 
already  made  terms  with  Frederick,  and  another  bril- 
liant victory  had  proved  the  genius  of  Prussia's  king. 
At  Sohr,  on  September  30,  1745,  thirty  thousand 
Austrians  attacked  the  Prussian  army  only  nineteen 
thousand  strong.  They  had  been  able  to  steal  a  march 
on  Frederick's  vigilance  and  burst  upon  him  un- 
awares ;  his  camp  was  plundered,  his  private  papers 
captured,  and  Maria  Theresa  had  the  satisfaction  of 
studying  the  wiles  and  devices  of  her  enemy.  It 
was  the  only  satisfaction  she  derived  from  the  battle 
of  Sohr. 

At  first  Frederick's  position  seemed  hopeless ;  "  at 
Hohenfriedberg,"  he  said,  "  I  was  fighting  for  Silesia, 


330  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

but  at  Sohr  I  fought  for  my  life."  ^  But  his  readiness 
did  not  desert  him,  and  the  advantage  the  Austrians 
gained  by  the  surprise  was  soon  overcome  by  his  skill- 
ful dispositions ;  while  eight  thousand  Pandours  were 
reveling  in  the  plunder  of  the  camp  and  drinking 
the  good  wines  intended  for  the  king  of  Prussia, 
Frederick  rallied  his ,  men,  and  their  superior  disci- 
pline counterbalanced  any  inferiority  in  numbers ;  the 
battle  resulted  in  a  great  Prussian  victory .^ 

When  Maria  Theresa  had  such  an  opponent,  she 
could  spare  no  forces  for  distant  campaigns.  From 
the  events  of  the  last  two  years  she  had  also  learned 
that  there  was  no  prospect  of  conquering  Alsace  and 
Lorraine ;  the  French  had  now  three  hundred  thou- 
sand men  under  arms,  and  they  had  Marshal  Saxe  for 
a  leader ;  not  only  could  they  repel  invasion  from 
their  frontiers,  but  they  could  continue  their  victorious 
career  in  the  Low  Countries. 

The  only  advantage  which  France  could  derive 
from  a  continuance  of  the  war  was  to  strengthen  her 
northern  boundary  by  the  acquisition  of  additional 
territory  in  Flanders,  and  of  all  her  possessions,  Maria 
Theresa  was  most  willing  to  sacrifice  the  Low  Coun- 
tries. The  occupation  of  Silesia  by  Prussia  was  a 
constant  menace  to  Vienna  itself,  but  while  additional 
territory  in  Flanders  would  be  an  important  gain  for 
France,  it  would  be  an  unimportant  loss  for  Austria. 
Unless  the  men  governing  France  were  bereft  of  wis- 
dom, it  seemed  that  they  would  now  be  glad  to  make 
peace  upon  terms  advantageous  to  their  own  country, 
and  Maria  Theresa  would  thus  be  left  free  to  concen- 

.     *  Mem.  de  Valori,  i.  249. 

*  See  Pol.  Cor.,  iv.  291,  etc.,  for  Frederick's  account  of  this 
battle. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     331 

trate  all  her  forces  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war  with 
Frederick,  and  be  saved  the  bitter  necessity  of  con- 
ceding favorable  terms  to  one  whom  she  stigmatized 
as  a  liar,  a  robber,  and  a  blasphemer. 

It  was  accordingly  intimated  to  the  French  envoys 
that  the  queen  was  ready  to  consider  conditions  of 
peace  far  different  from  those  which  she  had  de- 
manded two  years  before,  and  this  intelligence  was  at 
once  communicated  to  Versailles.  If  Richelieu  or 
Mazarin  had  been  at  the  head  of  the  government 
these  overtures  would  have  resulted  in  peace,  France 
would  have  gained  something  by  the  war  of  the  Aus- 
trian Succession,  and  the  lives  and  money  of  the 
French  people  would  not  have  been  wasted  in  three 
years  more  of  warfare.  Unfortunately,  on  the  throne 
was  a  listless  monarch,  to  whom  his  intrigues  with 
Mme.  de  Pompadour  were  of  more  interest  than 
whether  Alsace  should  become  German  or  Flanders 
should  become  French,  and  at  the  head  of  the  de- 
partment of  foreign  affairs  was  an  amiable  philosopher 
who  had  decided  that  the  boundaries  of  his  country 
needed  no  further  extension,  and  that  the  end  to  be 
sought  was  not  to  strengthen  France,  but  to  strengthen 
Prussia.  In  this  endeavor  he  was  successful,  but  it 
is  doubtful  if  his  countrymen  owe  him  any  gratitude 
for  his  exertions.  It  was,  indeed,  decided  by  a  ma- 
jority of  the  council  that  some  response  should  be 
made  to  the  overtures  of  Maria  Theresa,  but  while 
Argenson  obeyed  the  instruction  of  his  colleagues,  he 
did  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  the  success  of  negotia- 
tions which  did  not  accord  with  his  doctrines.  France, 
he  wrote,  might  wisely  carry  on  war  for  four  years 
more,  if  this  was  necessary  to  secure  Silesia  for  Prus- 
sia;  when  his   representative  received  such  instruc- 


832  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

tions  he  was  not  likely  to  smooth  the  road  for  a  peace 
of  which  the  real  object  was  to  leave  Maria  Theresa 
free  to  make  another  effort  to  win  back  that  province.^ 
In  the  mean  time  events  had  marched  with  their  cus- 
tomary rapidity  when  the  interests  of  Frederick  were 
concerned.  A  plan  had  been  devised  for  the  invasion 
of  Prussia  which  would  have  been  formidable  had  it 
been  executed  with  vigor.  The  Austrians  and  Saxons 
were  to  unite  their  forces  in  Saxony  and  proceed 
directly  upon  Berlin  before  Frederick  could  interpose 
any  successful  resistance.  This  project  had  been 
approved  by  Maria  Theresa,  and  was  to  be  put  into 

.effect  by  Prince  Charles ;  naturally  the  execution  was  as 
timid  as  the  conception  had  been  bold.  In  November, 
after  much  delay,  the  Austrian  army  entered  Saxony, 
hoping  to  take  Frederick  unawares.    But  it  was  rarely 

4hat  his  vigilance  was  surprised,  and  he  had  already 
received  secret  information  of  these  plans  for  the  in- 
vasion of  Prussia.  Following  his  favorite  policy  of 
forestalling  an  attack  by  himself  attacking,  he  at  once 
invaded  Saxony.  At  this  exhibition  of  vigor  Prince 
Charles's  courage  failed  him,  and  he  hastily  fell  back 
into  Bohemia.  "  I  was  never  so  embarrassed  in  my 
life,"  wrote  that  helpless  general.''^  If  he  was  uncer- 
tain what  to  do,  Frederick  was  not;  the  Prussians 
continued  to  overrun  Saxony,  levying  heavy  contribu- 
tions and  devastating  that  unfortunate  country.  On 
December  15,  a  great  battle  was  fought  at  Kessels- 
dorf,  near  Dresden,  and  the  Saxon  army  was  annihi- 
lated. 

Almost  within  sound  of  the  cannon  the  representa- 
tives of  France  and  Austria  met  to  see  if  peace  could 

*  Corrcspondance  de  Saxe,  Aff.  Etr. 

*  Letter  of  November  26,  1745,  cited  by  Arneth. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.      333 

bo  made  between  their  countries.  Aro-enson  liad 
bamijered  the  instructions  he  had  been  obliged  to 
send  with  every  restriction  that  coukl  insure  their 
failure,  and  they  had  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  a 
timid  and  inexperienced  agent.  Though  Frederick 
had  already  agreed  on  terms  with  England,  though 
he  hardly  concealed  his  purpose  to  make  peace  with 
Maria  Theresa  whenever  satisfactory  conditions  could 
be  obtained,  Argenson  refused  to  believe  that  the 
Prussian  king  would  desert  the  French  alliance.  But 
even  if  the  reports  of  Frederick's  intentions  that 
reached  him  from  every  diplomatic  agent  were  correct, 
the  minister  would  not  allow  this  to  modify  his  con- 
duct. The  king  of  France,  he  said,  in  one  of  the 
sounding  phrases  he  loved  to  utter,  would  rather  bo 
deceived  by  others  than  himself  deceive.  Such  was 
not  the  maxim  of  the  monarch  he  so  greatly  admired, 
for  Frederick  laid  down,  among  many  other  reasons 
for  deserting  his  allies,  the  suspicion  that  they  might 
desert  him. 

In  his  heart  Argenson  was  unwilling  to  make  any 
peace  which  would  leave  Austria  free  to  act  against 
Frederick,  and  might  defeat  that  growth  of  the  power 
of  Prussia  which  he  deemed  vital  to  the  best  interests 
of  France.  Yet  so  eager  was  Maria  Theresa  to  agree 
upon  terms  that  she  was  willing  to  make  great  con- 
cessions. The  French  envoy  said  that  under  no  cir- 
cumstances nmst  France  be  required  to  act  against 
Frederick,  and  Harrach  replied  that  this  was  not  de- 
manded. In  the  Low  Countries  Harrach  offered  to 
cede  to  France  Ypres  and  Fumes,  and  he  was  author- 
ized to  yield  still  more.  But  this  availed  nothing,  for 
Vaulgrenant  had  been  instructed  that  no  peace  could 
be  made  unless  the  demands  of  Don  Philip  of  Spain 


334  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

were  fully  satisfied.  Harrach  said  that  Maria  The- 
resa would  cede  to  him  the  duchies  of  Parma  and 
Piacenza  and  Pavia,  a  more  extensive  principality 
than  he  was  ever  actually  to  secure.  He  must  have 
also  Alexandria  and  Tortona,  said  the  French  repre- 
sentative, following  strictly  his  instructions.  "  You 
cannot  ask  for  them,"  replied  Harrach  ;  "  they  belong 
to  the  king  of  Sardinia  ;  my  mistress  has  no  right  to 
give  them  away."  It  was  in  vain  that  he  argued  thus. 
Vaulgrenant  said  that  his  instructions  were  precise 
and  he  could  yield  nothing  ;  it  was  with  dismay  that 
Harrach  found  that  no  advantages  for  France  would 
induce  the  representatives  of  that  country  to  abandon 
impossible  demands  for  a  Spanish  prince.  At  break 
of  day  the  conference  ended,  and  Harrach  reluctantly 
turned  his  attention  to  an  adversary  who  sought 
advantages  for  himself  and  not  for  his  kinsfolk.^ 

/  France  could  have  secured  for  herself  half  a  dozen 
great  cities;  she  could  have  obtained  new  territory 

'that  would  have  increased  her  wealth  and  strength- 
ened her  frontier ;  instead  of  this,  she  involved  her- 

^  self  in  three  years  more  of  warfare,  because  she  in- 
sisted on  acquisitions  for  a  Spanish  prince  to  which 
he  had  no  shadow  of  just  claim ;  it  was  not  the  only 
time  in  the  eighteenth  century  that  the  alliance  with 
Spain  proved  a  misfortune  for  France. 

Thus  the  negotiations  for  peace  came  to  an  end, 
to  the  regret  of  Maria  Theresa  and  to  the  satisfaction 
of  Argenson ;  nothing  now  remained  for  the  empress 
queen  but  to  abandon  her  hopes  of  recovering  Silesia 

^  This  abortive  negotiation,  which  mipht  have  changed  the 
condition  of  Europe,  can  be  followed  in  Cor.  de  Saxe,  1745,  Aff. 
Etr.  An  account  based  apon  the  Austrian  authorities  is  given 
in  Axnetb,  t.  iii. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.      335 

and  make  terms  with  Frederick.  The  defeats  of  Sohr  > 
and  Kesselsdorf  had  discouraged  her  anticipations  of 
military  success ;  her  ally,  Augustus  III.,  had  been 
obliged  to  fly  from  Dresden  and  seek  refuge  in  Prague, 
while  Frederick  pillaged  Saxony  with  an  earnest 
resolve  to  bring  the  elector  to  terms.  "  I  don't  like 
to  carry  on  war  like  Attila,"  he  wrote,  "  but  it  is  my 
only  resource.  Eighty  thousand  soldiers  in  a  country 
like  Saxony  cannot  fail  to  ruin  it  in  time."  ^  Augnis- 
tus  had  not  sufficient  fortitude  to  remain  in  exile  and 
watch  the  systematic  devastation  of  his  country,  and 
he  consented  to  make  peace  with  Prussia. 

The  Austrian  ambassador  had  been  instructed  that 
if  he  could  reach  no  conclusion  with  France  ho 
must  address  himself  to  Frederick  and  be  prepared 
to  accede  to  the  convention  of  Plan  over.  Harrach 
foimd  the  representatives  of  France  slow,  timid,  and 
ignorant  as  to  the  interests  of  their  country,  but  ho 
had  no  occasion  for  such  complaints  when  at  last  he 
intimated  to  Frederick  that  Austria  was  ready  to  lay 
down  her  arms.  The  wise  king  felt  the  importance  of 
obtaining  peace,  and  peace  at  once ;  he  knew  that  his 
mission  was  to  strengthen  Prussia,  and  not  to  waste 
the  forces  of  his  people  in  building  up  other  states, 
or  in  gratifying  the  ambition  of  needy  kinsmen  ;  he 
allowed  no  secondary  considerations  to  stand  in  the 
way  of  a  treaty  which  should  secure  what  was  of  real 
importance ;  in  other  words,  Frederick  showed  as 
much  wisdom  as  the  French  had  shown  folly,  and 
procured  for  himself  the  advantages  which  they  had 
thrown  away.  Such  was  not  the  conclusion  which 
Harrach  had  desired  ;  like  Maria  Theresa,  he  wanted 
peace  with  France  and  war  with  Prussia.  "  A  curse 
1  PoL  Cor.,  iv.  372,  376. 


836  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

on  all  negotiations !  "  he  wrote.  "  That  which  I  had  at 
heart  met  with  failure,  and  that  which  I  detest  pro- 
gresses with  all  imaginable  success."  ^  It  was  with 
an  unwilling  hand  that  on  Christmas,  1745,  he  signed 
y/tbe  treaty  of  Dresden,  which  secured  Silesia  to  Fred- 
erick. Argenson  had  been  loath  to  make  peace  with 
Austria  without  the  cooperation  of  Prussia,  but  this 
feeling  was  not  reciprocated  by  Frederick.  There  was 
indeed  no  reason  why  either  party  should  not  secure 
terms  advantageous  to  itself,  whenever  they  could  be 
obtained.  "You  certainly  should  have  known  long 
ago  that  I  would  make  peace,  and  you  have  only 
yourself  to  thank  for  it,"  Frederick  said  with  entire 
truth  to  the  French  ambassador.^  Once  again  France 
was  left  to  carry  on  alone  war  against  Austria  and 
England,  not  for  any  advantages  for  herself,  but  in 
pursuance  of  the  ruinous  treaties  and  alliances  to 
which  she  had  become  a  party.  "  At  least,  Prussia 
has  secured  Silesia,"  was  Argenson's  consolation  when 
he  discovered  that,  as  he  would  not  abandon  Fred- 
erick, Frederick  had  decided  to  abandon  him ; 
whether  this  was  an  advantage  which  justified  France 
in  undertaking  a  seven  years'  war  is  for  posterity  to 
decide.^ 

So  far  as  material  results  were  concerned,  Freder- 
ic ick  gained  nothing  by  violating  the  treaty  of  Breslau ; 
his  hopes  of  conquest  in  Bohemia  were  disappointed ; 
his  zeal  for  the  emperor,  as  his  own  writings  show,  was 
a  mere  pretense  ;  his  interference  was  not  required  to 
save  France  from  dismemberment.    The  war  had  been 

1  Harrach  to  Ulfeld,  December  23,  1746. 
«  Pol.  Cor.,  iv.  390. 

'  «'  Ea  war  die  erste  Skizze  des  Werkes  das  die  Siege  von  1870 
vollendet  habeu,"  Droyseu  justly  says. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     337 

disastrous  for  the  French  while  it  was  carried  on  in 
Germany,  but  when  the  scene  of  action  was  trans- 
ferred to  their  own  boundaries,  fortune  changed ;  a 
great  leader  was  found  in  Maurice  de  Saxe,  and  neither 
Alsace  nor  Lorraine  would  have  been  lost  to  France 
if  Frederick  had  remained  tranquil.  In  the  war  which 
he  undertook  he  exposed  to  imminent  peril  what  he 
had  already  acquired,  and  he  was  glad  to  obtain  peace 
on  terms  which  left  to  him  exactly  what  had  been 
secured  by  the  treaty  of  Breslau ;  he  gained  nothing, 
and  he  lost  nothing.  But  if  he  had  taken  great  risks 
and  had  not  added  to  his  domains,  he  had  obtained 
what  was  equally  dear  to  him,  the  admiration  of  his 
fellows ;  he  had  shown  himself  a  great  general,  he 
had  proved  himself  a  great  politician,  he  had  escaped 
dangers  which  threatened  his  overthrow,  he  had 
established  his  position  as  the  foremost  man  in  Eu- 
rope ;  if  he  had  acquired  no  new  provinces,  he  had 
gained  fame,  and  when  he  returned  to  Berlin  in  tri- 
luuph,  for  the  first  time  the  cry  was  heard,  "  Long  live 
Frederick  the  Great !  "  Many  a  sovereign  has  been 
thus  greeted  in  his  lifetime,  but  since  Charlemagne, 
only  Peter  of  Eussia  and  Frederick  of  Prussia  have 
retained  the  title  with  posterity. 

While  the  French  were  carrying  on  war  against 
Maria  Theresa  in  Germany  and  the  Low  Countries, 
in  order  to  secure  for  Don  Philip  the  principalities 
that  had  been  promised  him,  hostilities  proceeded  in 
Italy  without  any  very  decided  advantage  to  either 
party.  It  was  late  in  1743  when  the  treaty  of  Fon-v<^ 
tainebloau  was  signed,  by  which  Louis  promised  to 
secure  Milan,  Parma,  and  Piacenza  for  his  cousin. 
The  campaign  of  the  next  year  was  not  important  in 
its  results,  but  in  1745  the  allied  armies  carried  all 


338  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

before  them.  Nice  and  Savoy  were  easily  taken ; 
Genoa  joined  the  French ;  their  armies  penetrated 
into  Piedmont,  captured  Tortona,  Asti,  and  Casale, 
and  laid  siege  to  Alessandria.  Charles  Emmanuel 
was  defeated  at  Bassignano  and  retreated  in  dismay ; 
it  se.emed  possible  for  the  allies  to  reach  Turin  and 
become  mastei'S  of  all  Piedmont. 

Such  was  the  course  advocated  by  those  familiar 
with  the  art  of  warfare,  but  it  was  not  adopted.  The 
Spanish  queen  had  as  implicit  confidence  in  her  tal- 
ents for  war  as  for  diplomacy,  and  to  her  mind  the 
way  to  carry  on  the  campaign  was  to  seize  the  prov- 
inces she  wanted  for  her  son  and  let  everything  else 
take  care  of  itself.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  French 
commanders  remonstrated  against  a  plan  which  would 
leave  the  army  spread  over  a  great  territory  and  far 
removed-  from  any  base  of  supplies,  with  the  Austrians 
on  one  side  and  the  Sardinians  on  the  other.  The 
French  ambassador  was  instructed  to  see  the  queen 
herself  and  ask  her  consent  to  a  more  rational  system 
of  operations,  but  he  met  with  no  success.  He  found 
the  king  and  queen  in  bed,  —  they  were  generally  in  bed 
when  they  held  their  audiences,  —  but  no  sooner  did 
he  suggest  the  views  of  his  court  as  to  the  campaign 
than  the  queen  became  so  excited  by  this  opposition 
to  her  plans  that  it  was  with  difficulty  she  could  ex- 
press herself ;  her  sentences  poured  out  half  finished 
and  little  connected.  "  We  know  what  we  will  do," 
she  cried ;  "  they  want  to  treat  us  as  infants ;  every 
one  must  think  for  himself."  So  violent  was  her  pas- 
sion that  she  would  talk  no  more,  and  proceeded  to 
rise,  though  it  was  before  the  customary  hour.  "  It 
is  too  early  to  get  up,"  murmured  the  king,  who  at 
last  took  part  in  the  conversation.     "  Stay  in  bed,  if 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     339 

you  want  to,"  vociferated  his  wife ;  "  I  wish  to  leave." 
The  ambassador  judged  that  his  own  further  stay  was 
injudicious,  and  the  interview  closed.^ 

The  orders  already  sent  by  the  Spanish  court  were 
not  modified,  and,  following  the  commands  of  their  im- 
perious mistress,  the  Spanish  troops  separated  from 
their  French  allies  and  entered  the  territories  of  which 
tlie  infante  hoped  to  become  the  sovereign.  For  a 
while  they  met  with  no  opposition ;  Parma,  Pavia, 
and  Piacenza  were  captured.  Exultant  at  his  success, 
the  infante  pushed  further  on,  and  in  December, 
1745,  he  took  possession  of  the  city  of  Milan  and  laid 
siege  to  the  citadel.^ 

These  victories  were  possible  because  there  were 
no  forces  with  which  to  oppose  the  Spanish  advance, 
but  Philip  had  hardly  made  his  entry  into  the  city 
of  which  he  hoped  to  become  the  didie,  when  Maria 
Theresa  again  made  peace  with  Frederick,  and  thirty 
thousand  soldiers  advanced  by  forced  marches  to  free 
Lombardy  from  invasion.  By  February,  1746,  they 
reached  the  Po.  The  position  of  Don  Philip  was  now 
dangerous ;  an  overweening  confidence  was  followed 
by  acute  alarm ;  the  Spanish  abandoned  Milan,  leav- 
ing part  of  their  artillery  in  their  haste ;  Parma  and 
Pavia  were  captured  by  the  Austrians,  and  Philip 
sent  word  to  the  French  that  they  must  come  to  his 
rescue.  The  union  of  the  two  armies  did  not  improve 
the  situation,  and  they  were  defeated  by  Prince  Lich- 

1  Viiiir^al  to  Argeiison,  1745,  C(n:  d'Espar/ne. 

^  "  II  ne  teste  (jti'h,  soiiliaiter  que  la  suite  des  cvdnements  ne 
justifie  point  nostra  sage  pr^voj'aiice,  et  que  I'Espagne  n'ait  pas 
lieu  de  se  repentir  de  s'estre  livrde  avec  trop  de  precipitation  et 
de  confiance  k  son  cnvie  ddinesurde  de  prendre  ])()ssessIon  des 
Milanois."  Argenson  to  Reunes,  January  11,  174G,  Cor.  (VEs- 
pagne,  488. 


840  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

tenstein  in  the  battle  of  Piacenza.  "  I  hope  they  will 
make  some  change  in  their  plan  to  hunt  me  out  of 
Italy,"  said  Maria  Theresa  in  her  exultation  when  she 
heard  of  the  victory.^ 

The  tide  of  fortune  now  ran  steadily  against  the 
allies ;  they  lost  all  they  had  gained  in  Italy,  and  by 
the  winter  of  1746,  the  condition  of  affairs  had  so 
changed  that  the  Austrians  invaded  Provence.  Nei- 
ther in  their  prosperity  nor  in  their  adversity  did 
united  counsels  prevail  in  the  courts  any  more  than 
in  the  armies  of  France  and  Spain.  In  the  autumn  of 
1745,  the  extravagant  demands  made  for  Don  Philip 
had  repelled  Maria  Theresa  and  had  driven  her  to 
make  peace  with  Frederick,  but  in  the  winter  follow- 
ing Argenson  tried  to  win  the  king  of  Sardinia  to  his 
favorite  scheme  of  a  confederation  of  Italian  princes, 
and  offered  for  his  assistance  far  more  liberal  terms 
than  would  have  been  acceptable  to  Spain.^  The  time 
had  not  come  for  a  confederacy  of  Italian  states  any 
more  than  for  an  united  Italy,  and  no  one  knew  this 
better  than  Charles  Emmanuel.  He  considered  the 
propositions  of  the  French  minister  while  it  seemed 
possible  that  France  could  hold  the  advantages  she 
had  gained,  and  rejected  them  when  the  Austrian 
reinforcements  arrived.  It  was  never  difficult  to  get 
the  better  of  Argenson  in  diplomatic  finesse ;  "  that 
man,"  said  Richelieu,  "  was  born  to  be  a  secretary  of 
state  in  the  Republic  of  Plato ; "  it  is  certain  that  he 
■was  sadly  out  of  place  among  European  diplomats  in 
the  last   century,  to  whom  good  faith  was  a  thing 

*  Erizzoy  July  2,  1746,  cited  by  Arneth. 

*  These  negotiations  can  be  followed  in  Cor.  de  Turin,  1745-46, 
ftad  in  Carutti's  Storia  di  Carlo  Emmanuele.  The  idea  of  an 
Italian  confederacy  Argenson  obtained  from  Cbauvelin. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     341 

unknown.  At  the  last  moment,  Charles  abruptly 
terminated  the  negotiations,  surprised  the  French 
generals,  who  understood  the  king  of  Sardinia  was 
now  their  ally,  and  raised  the  siege  of  Alessandria. 

These  abortive  negotiations  had  for  their  only  effect 
to  increase  the  suspicion  with  which  the  Spanish  queen 
always  regarded  France.  To  gain  the  alliance  of 
Sardinia  the  French  had  promised  Milan  to  its  king, 
but  they  had  already  promised  to  conquer  this  province 
for  the  son  of  Elizabeth  Famese.  "  And  the  treaty 
of  Fontainebleau,"  cried  the  Spanish  queen,  when  it 
was  suggested  that  she  should  agree  to  such  an 
arrangement,  "is  there  nothing  sacred  in  the  world?" 
"  How  many  times  have  I  told  you  that  France  would 
treat  us  as  she  always  has  done,"  she  said,  turning  to 
her  husband ;  and  having  thus  expressed  herself,  she 
refused  to  discuss  the  matter  further.^ 

The  disasters  in  Italy  offset  the  great  victories  which 
the  French  gained  in  Flanders,  and  the  Spanish  alli- 
ance, instead  of  an  advantage,  was  felt  to  be  a  positive 
hindrance.  "  It  is  like  a  ball  attached  to  the  leg  of 
a  criminal,"  said  Argenson ;  "  if  the  Spanish  would 
only  desert  our  alliance,  we  might  keep  our  conquests 
for  ourselves ;  as  it  is,  the  king  holds  them  only  to 
exchange  for  establishments  for  the  infante."  ^ 

The  Spanish  were  quite  willing  to  make  terms  for 
themselves  if  they  could  obtain  what  they  wanted, 
and  the  family  compact  was  not  treated  as  eternal  or 
indissoluble  by  one  side  any  more  than  by  the  other. 
Secret  agents  offered  the  alliance  of  Spain  to  Maria 
Theresa  and  her  cooperation  in  conquering  Lorraine 
from   France,    if    Don    Philip   could   have    what   he 

^  Vaur^al  to  Argenson,  January  27,  1746. 

*  Argenson  to  Vaure'al,  n4S,pas.  ;  Cor.  d'Esp.,  488, 9. 


342  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

desired.^  These  suggestions  found  no  favor  with  the 
empress  queen :  what  she  must  give  to  Don  Philip 
was  a  certain  loss ;  what  might  be  conquered  from 
France  was  an  uncertain  gain.  The  war  continued, 
but  the  burden  of  finding  an  establishment  for  the 
infante  was  soon  thrown  entirely  on  France.  Tlie 
Duke  of  Noailles  was  sent  on  a  solemn  embassy  to 
Madrid,  to  assure  their  Catholic  majesties  that  Louis 
XV.  would  attend  to  the  interests  of  his  son-in-law, 
even  at  the  hazard  of  his  own  frontiers,  but  also  to 
suggest,  in  view  of  the  terrible  burden  of  this  long 
war,  that  perhaps  an  abatement  could  be  made  from 
the  great  promises  contained  in  the  treaty  of  Fon- 
tainebleau.  He  was  received  with  politeness,  but  he 
could  accomplish  nothing;  Philip  and  his  wife  de- 
clined to  waive  anything  that  had  been  promised  by 
the  treaty ;  it  was  for  France  to  fulfill  her  agreements, 
or  stand  convicted  of  perfidy  and  bad  faith.^ 

But  on  July  9,  1746,  Philip  V.  of  Spain  died  sud- 
denly of  apoplexy.  His  succession  to  the  throne  had 
caused  one  of  the  greatest  wars  in  European  history, 
and  for  forty-six  years  he  had  been  the  king  of  that 
country;  his  life  had  been  plunged  in  gloom  and 
depression,  his  mind  obscured  by  superstition  and  prej- 
udice, his  body  weighed  down  by  disease  and  fat ;  now 
making  vows  of  abdication,  now  vowing  that  he  would 
never  abdicate,  but  always  governed  by  his  wife  and 
his  confessor,  he  had  at  last  finished  his  long,  strange, 
profitless  career. 

If  his  influence  liad  been  slight  while  he  was  alive, 

*  These  negotiations  are  related  in  Arneth's  Geschichte  Maria 
Thereskis.  It  does  not  appear  very  clearly  how  far  these  agents 
were  authorized. 

*  Correspondance  de  Louis  X  V.  et  du  due  de  Noailles. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     343 

his  death  worked  a  great  change  in  Spanish  politics, 
for  it  closed  the  extraordinary  career  of  Elizabeth 
Farnese.  Ferdinand  VI.,  the  son  of  Philip  by  his 
first  wife,  succeeded  him  on  the  throne,  and  the  step- 
mother had  no  influence  over  the  new  sovereign.  She 
left  the  palace  where  she  had  reigned  so  absolutely 
and  been  loved  so  little.  "  I  have  seen  many  funeral 
processions,"  wrote  a  spectator  describing  her  parting, 
"  but  never  one  that  made  on  me  so  strong  an  impres- 
sion ;  it  seemed  like  a  living  person  going  to  her  own 
burial."  1 

The  new  king  was  Spanish  by  birth,  and  his  mother 
was  a  Piedmontese ;  he  was  not  inclined  to  regulate 
the  policy  of  Spain  to  suit  the  taste  of  France.  His 
own  inclinations  were  not,  however,  of  much  impor- 
tance. In  many  respects  Ferdinand  resembled  his 
father ;  he  had  been  reared  in  ignorance,  his  health 
was  infirm,  his  temperament  melancholy,  and  he  was 
controlled  by  his  wife,  who  was  a  Portuguese  princess. 
It  was  Maria  who  succeeded  to  Elizabeth,  rather  than 
Ferdinand  to  Philip.^ 

Whether  the  decision  was  to  be  made  by  the  new 
king  or  the  new  queen,  it  was  certain  that  Spain 
would  not  exhaust  her  resources  in  advancing  the 
fortunes  of  Don  Philip.  The  Spanish  army  remained 
in  the  field,  but  it  was  not  reinforced,  Genoa  was  left 
to  be  captured  by  the  Austrians,  and  no  further  efforts 
were  made  to  obtain  possession  of  the  territories  de- 
sired by  the  infante.  Ferdinand  felt  that  the  French 
had  made  many  conquests  which  they  could  exchange 
for  an  establishment  for  Louis  XV.'s  son-in-law,  and 
he  did  not  care  to  expose  his  own  forces  to  further 

^  Vaurdal  to  Argenson,  August  6,  1746. 

2  Erizzo,  August  13, 1746  ;  Vaur^al  to  king,  July  11,  1746. 


844  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

peril  in  his  half-brother's  behalf.  It  is  doubtful  if 
Spain  could  have  done  much  more,  even  if  her  sov- 
ereign had  been  so  inclined.  The  exertions  already 
made  had  been  a  severe  drain  on  a  poor  and  ill-gov- 
erned country ;  it  was  with  difficulty  that  Elizabeth 
had  sustained  an  army  of  twenty  thousand  men  in 
Italy,  and  the  Spanish  navy  was  reduced  to  twelve 
ships,  an  unimportant  factor  in  a  war  against  the 
greatest  maritime  power  in  the  world.^ 

Small  as  was  the  contribution  of  Spain  to  the  allied 
armies,  she  demanded  the  control  of  their  movements. 
The  French  soldiers  were  more  numerous,  their  lead- 
ers had  greater  experience,  but  the  Spanish  insisted 
on  the  adoption  of  their  plans,  and  with  the  docility 
which  Louis  showed  to  all  demands  from  Spain,  his 
generals  were  bidden  to  act  in  conformity  with  the 
wishes  of  their  imperious  allies.  During  most  of  these 
campaigns  Don  Philip  himself  was  the  Spanish  com- 
mander, though  officers  under  him  must  have  felt  that 
obedience  was  due  to  his  rank  rather  than  to  his  ca- 
pacity. The  prince  was  approaching  thirty,  but  he 
displayed  the  intellectual  sluggishness  of  many  of  his 
family,  and  seemed  hardly  more  than  a  boy.  The 
French  marshal  who  commanded  in  Italy  saw  with 
amazement  his  superior  amusing  himself  at  hide  and 
seek,  and  puss  in  the  corner.  Don  Philip  himself  felt 
a  certain  incongruity  between  such  amusements  and 
his  rank  and  age ;  spies  were  placed  to  inform  him 
when  the  gray-haired  marshal,  who  had  seen  service 
for  forty  years,  approached  to  receive  his  commands, 

*  Cor.  (TEspagne,  pas.,  1714  45.  The  nominal  size  of  this  fleet 
was  larger,  but  there  was  always  a  great  discrepancy  between 
the  nominal  and  the  effective  forces. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  WAR  BY  FREDERICK.     345 

so  that  he  might  not  be  surprised  in  the  very  act  of 
crying  "  I  spy."  ^ 

With  inefficient  leaders  and  divided  counsels,  it  was 
not  strange  that  no  further  progress  was  made  in 
Italy  ;  there  was  only  one  engagement  of  importance 
in  the  year  1747,  and  in  that  the  French  were  de- 
feated. It  was  not  in  Italy,  but  at  Aix-la-Chapelle 
that  the  fortunes  of  the  young  prince,  for  whom 
so  great  efforts  had  been  made,  were  to  be  finally 
decided ;  the  victories  of  Marshal  Saxe  in  Flanders 
secured  for  the  infante  the  possessions  that  he  was 
unable  to  conquer  for  himself. 

*  Conversation  of  Marshal  Belle  Isle,  reported  by  the  Duke 
of  Luynes,  Mem.,  x.  123. 


CHAPTER  Vin. 

THE  CLOSE   OF  THE  WAR   OF  THE   AUSTRIAN 
SUCCESSION. 

While  the  foundation  of  Prussia's  future  great- 
ness was  secured  by  the  treaty  of  Dresden,  the  desti- 
nies of  France  were  affected  by  transactions  of  a  very 
different  nature.  Louis  XV.'s  tears  over  Mme.  de 
Chateauroux  were  soon  dried,  and  his  attention  was 
turned  to  a  woman  who,  during  almost  twenty  years, 
did  much  to  lessen  the  respect  for  the  crown  and  to 
lower  the  position  of  France.  It  was  certain  that 
some  one  woidd  be  found  to  fill  the  place  of  IVIme.  de 
Chateauroux,  and  the  position  was  coveted  by  all  who 
were  moved  by  ambition  and  not  squeamish  about 
virtue.  Of  such  there  was  no  lack.  The  place  left 
vacant  by  Mme.  de  Chateauroux,  wrote  a  courtier,  was 
desired  by  all  the  ladies  of  the  court.*  Even  if 
this  statement  was  too  sweeping,  it  is  certain  that 
many  of  them  were  ready  to  fill  it,  but  their  hopes 
were  doomed  to  disappointment. 

The  woman  who  obtained  the  prize  played  so  im- 
portant a  part  in  French  politics  that  to  pass  her  by 
with  scanty  notice  would  be  affectation ;  one  can  no 
more  slight  Mme.  de  Pompadour  in  the  history  of 
Louis  XV.  than  Fleury  or  Choiseul.  The  record  of 
royal  amours  is  usually  as  unimportant  as  it  is  unedify- 
ing ;  the  frail  beauty  who  obtains  the  king's  favor  pro- 
cures titles  and  wealth  for  herself,  and  she  influences 
'  Souvenirs  de  Valfotis,  130. 


CLOSE  OF  THE   WAR.  347 

the  bestowal  of  favors  and  pensions  upon  others ;  she 
is  naturally  a  person  of  much  importance  for  her  con- 
temporaries, and  of  very  little  interest  for  posterity. 
It  is  far  otherwise  with  Mme.  de  Pompadour :  during 
many  years  she  exerci&ed  on  the  government  of  France 
a  larger  influence  than  any  other  person  in  the  king- 
dom ;  a  history  of  her  rule  would  be  properly  entitled 
France  under  Mme.  de  Pompadour ;  for  a  period  little 
shorter  than  the  ministries  of  Richelieu,  of  Mazarin, 
and  of  Fleury  she  held  a  power  not  far  inferior  to  that 
of  the  famous  cardinals ;  the  stern  genius  of  Riche- 
lieu, the  extraordinary  sagacity  of  Mazarin,  the  judi- 
cious mildness  of  Fleury,  were  succeeded  by  the  petty 
jealousies  and  the  feminine  ambitions  of  a  Pompadour. 
However  lamentable  were  the  results  of  her  adminis- 
tration, she  was  no  commonplace  woman  ;  not  only 
was  she  beautiful  and  gifted,  an  intelligent  patron  of 
art,  and  excelling  in  the  accomplishments  which  give 
a  charm  to  life,  but  she  had  traits  of  character  found 
in  those  bom  to  rule ;  she  was  not  content  with  the 
triumphs  of  her  theatre,  nor  with  giving  her  name 
to  dresses  and  fashions ;  it  was  not  enough  that  there 
should  be  Pompadour  ribbons  and  fans  and  head- 
dresses ;  she  had  the  love  of  power,  the  desire  to  rule, 
the  wish  to  leave  her  name  to  the  French  people 
as  one  who  had  done  great  things  for  the  country; 
she  had  the  ambition  of  a  Catherine  II.  without  her 
intellect. 

Jeanne  Antoinette  Poisson  was  born  in  1721.^  Her 
father  was  a  subordinate  of  the  Paris  brothers,  the 
great  public  contractors ;  her  mother,  it  was  said,  was 
the  daughter  of  a  butcher,  a  woman  equally  known  for 

*  Mme.  de  Pompadour's  birth  is  usually  put  in  1722,  but 
according  to  the  baptismal  certificate  she  was  born  in  1721. 


348  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

beauty  and  for  numerous  gallantries  which  she  took 
no  pains  to  conceal.  The  father's  reputation  was  as 
checkered  as  that  of  the  mother,  and  in  1726  he  was 
charged  with  rendering  false  accounts  in  reference  to 
the  subsistence  of  the  troops.  Frauds  of  this  nature 
were  common  in  a  corrupt  administration;  Poisson 
was  probably  as  guilty  as  many  others  and  perhaps 
no  more  so,  but  he  was  selected  for  an  example  and 
was  condemned  to  be  hanged.  To  escape  that  penalty 
he  fled  from  France,  and  for  many  years  he  remained 
in  exile.^  Mme.  Poisson  felt  no  inclination  to  share 
her  husband's  fate,  and  she  continued  to  be  an  admired 
member  of  what  may  be  called  the  society  of  the  city 
as  distinguished  from  the  more  aristocratic  circles  of 
Versailles.  In  this  could  be  found  the  wealthy  gov- 
ernment contractors,  the  great  bankers,  men  famous 
in  literature,  wits,  painters,  and  poets,  and  amid  such 
surroundings  the  young  Antoinette  Poisson  grew  up. 
She  soon  became  one  of  the  greatest  ornaments  of  the 
social  world  in  which  she  moved,  and  in  due  time  she 
was  married  to  Lenormant  d'Etioles,  the  nephew  of  a 
rich  farmer-general,  a  young  man  possessed  of  much 
wealth  and  little  wit.  He  was  enamored  by  the 
charms  of  the  beauty  he  had  won,  and  she  found  in 
marriage  the  only  thing  she  sought,  an  opportunity  to 
indulge  her  tastes  for  luxury,  for  artistic  enjoyment, 
and  social  prominence.  It  was  at  this  period  that  she 
was  described  by  President  Henault,  a  man  who  for 
long  years  had  seen  all  that  was  most  attractive  in 
the  society  of  the  court  and  the  town :  "  I  have  met 
one  of  the  prettiest  women  I  have  ever  seen,  Mme. 
d'Etioles ;  she  is  an  accomplished  musician,  she  sings 
with  all  possible  taste  and  gayety,  and  plays  comedies 
*  Mem.  de  Luynes,  vii.  67,  68. 


CLOSE  OF  THE   WAR.  349 

at  Etioles  in  a  theatre  which  equals  the  best  at 
Paris."! 

But  the  adoration  of  poets  and  farmers-general  did 
not  satisfy  the  ambition  of  this  young  beauty ;  she 
longed  for  admission  to  the  more  elevated  circles 
which  were  closed  to  a  bourgeoise,  and  she  cherished 
the  hope  that  if  charms  such  as  hers  could  be  brought 
to  the  notice  of  a  pleasure-loving  king,  he  could  not 
resist  their  attraction ;  the  widow  of  a  comedian  had 
become  the  wife  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  the  wife  of  a 
contractor  could  at  least  aspire  to  be  the  mistress  of 
his  successor. 

If  Mme.  d'Etioles  was  not  received  at  the  couii;, 
she  found  other  opportunities  to  bring  herself  to  the 
king's  notice.  When  Louis  went,  to  the  hunt,  he 
often  encountered  a  young  beauty  coquettishly  attired  ; 
now  she  appeared  as  a  Diana  in  blue,  in  a  rose-colored 
phaeton ;  again  she  was  a  huntress  in  rose,  in  a  car- 
riage of  azure ;  but  however  she  appeared,  she  was 
always  bewitching. 

In  February,  1745,  Louis  met  the  charming  Diana 
at  a  ball  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  Mme.  de  Chateau- 
roux  had  been  dead  for  two  months,  and  the  gossips 
of  the  court  soon  began  to  consider  the  possibility  of 
the  king  choosing  her  successor  from  the  ranks  of  the 
bourgeoisie.  The  possibility  became  a  certainty,  but 
the  beautiful  huntress  met  with  a  chilling  reception  in 
the  circles  to  which  the  favor  of  the  king  introduced 
her.  This  hostility  was  due,  not  to  her  lack  of  morals, 
but  to  her  lack  of  pedigree ;  the  conduct  of  the  king 
infringed  upon  long  established  usage ;  if  no  statute 
prescribed  the  quarterings  required  for  a  royal  mis- 
tress, yet  when  the  sovereign  went  outsjide  of  the  circles 
1  Hdnault  to  Mme.  du  Deffand,  July  18, 1742. 


350  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

of  Versailles  to  make  his  selection,  the  nobility  felt, 
says  the  Duke  of  Brogiie,  as  if  this  were  an  infringe- 
ment upon  their  privileges.  The  favorite  could  use 
no  phrase,  could  make  no  gesture,  which  indicated  a 
lack  of  familiarity  with  the  usages  of  the  court,  without 
exposing  herself  to  the  sneers  of  a  crowd  of  hereditary 
courtiers.  But  she  had  arts  of  pleasing  which  enabled 
her  to  withstand  all  intrigues  formed  for  her  overthrow, 
and  Louis  justly  declared  her  the  most  charming 
woman  in  France.  In  later  years  her  health  became 
vimpaired  and  her  comeliness  faded,  yet  she  never  lost 
her  favor  with  Louis  XV.  The  influence  which  she 
had  gained  by  beauty,  by  wit,  and  by  grace  was  re- 
tained by  pandering  to  the  vices  of  a  man  plunged  in 
a  sluggish  sensuality,  and  was  used  in  a  manner  which 
accounts  for  some  of  the  most  ignominious  chapters 
in  the  history  of  France.  But  for  the  present  Mme. 
de  Pompadour,  as  she  was  now  called,  occupied  herself 
in  strengthening  her  hold  on  Louis's  affections  ;  it  was 
not  until  later  that  she  turned  her  attention  to  choos- 
ing ministers  and  shaping  foreign  policy. 

While  Louis  was  occupied  with  his  new  favorite. 
Marshal  Saxe  pursued  his  career  of  glory.  It  was 
contrary  to  the  usages  of  the  age  to  attempt  important 
military  operations  in  cold  weather ;  the  armies  went 
into  wdnter  quarters,  the  officers  returned  to  the  pleas- 
ures of  Paris  and  Versailles ;  a  campaign  which 
lasted  for  six  months  was  regarded  as  a  long  one. 
In  a  treatise  on  the  art  of  war,  which  Maurice  wrote 
when  a  young  man,  he  had  disapproved  of  these  long 
seasons  of  repose,  and  he  now  acted  upon  his  own 
theories.^  While  most  of  his  officers  hastened  home, 
he  remained  with  the  army,  but  to  dispel  any  suspi- 
^  Mes  Reveries,  ii.  30. 


CLOSE  OF  THE   WAR.  351 

cions  It  was  asserted  that  his  infirmities  rendered  it 
impossible  for  liim  to  undertake  the  journey  to  Paris. 
The  marshal  had  as  strong  a  taste  for  the  pleasures  of 
life  as  any  of  his  subordinates,  and  he  sought  diversion 
during  a  tedious  winter  by  indulging  in  his  favorite 
sport  of  fighting  cocks  and  by  attending  the  perform- 
ances at  his  theatre. 

While  Maurice  was  apparently  absorbed  in  watch- 
ing cocks  thrust  spurs  into  each  other,  and  hearing 
pretty  women  sing  songs  of  questionable  propriety,  he 
was  secretly  making  preparations  for  an  important 
movement.  In  January,  1746,  the  French  forces  in 
the  Netherlands  were  rapidly  concentrated,  and  by 
the  30th  they  were  under  the  walls  of  Brussels.  If 
a  horde  of  Tartars  had  appeared  before  the  city,  it 
would  hardly  have  caused  greater  surprise  than  the 
sight  of  the  French  army  undertaking  the  siege  of  an 
important  place  in  the  dead  of  winter.  The  more  un- 
expected the  movement,  so  much  the  more  easy  was 
its  success.  Brussels  was  not  strongly  fortified,  and  the 
garrison  was  under  the  command  of  Count  Kaunitz,  a 
man  who  afterwards  became  famous  as  a  diplomat, 
but  had  neither  experience  nor  aptitude  for  the  role 
of  a  general.  Under  such  circumstances  it  was  im- 
possible to  make  a  long  resistance ;  the  allies  could 
not  come  to  the  relief  of  the  town,  and  on  February 
20  Brussels  surrendered,  and  the  garrison  of  twelve 
thotisand  men  became  prisoners  of  war.  The  French 
loss  during  the  siege  was  only  about  nine  hundi-ed 
men.'  Fifty-two  standards  taken  from  the  enemy 
were  sent  to  Paris  to  adorn  the  great  arches  of  her 
ancient  cathedral ;  it  was  already  so  full  of  such  tro- 

'  Lettres  et  Man.  du  Marechal  de  Saxe,  t.  ii.;  Espugnac,  ii. 
15C-198. 


362  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

phies  that  it  was  difficult  to  find  a  place  for  more, 
and  the  populace  dubbed  Maurice  the  upholsterer  of 
Notre  Dame.^  Among  other  spoils  was  the  oriflamme 
of  Francis  I.,  which  had  been  captured  at  Pavia,  and 
after  more  than  two  centuries  was  now  sent  trium- 
phantly back  to  Paris.    Often  as  the  French  had  waged 

.  war  in  the  Low  Countries,  it  was  rarely  that  they  had 
penetrated  as  far  as  Brussels,  and  though  the  capture 
of  the  capital  had  been- attempted,  it  had  never  been 

/accomplished ;  now  the  French  were  practically  mas- 
ters of  the  whole  of  the  Austrian  Netherlands,  and 
there  was  no  one  who  could  compel  them  to  surrender 
their  conquests. 

Nothing  more  could  be  done  at  present,  and  Mau- 
rice returned  to  Paris  to  enjoy  the  glory  of  his 
achievements.  The  victor  of  Fontenoy  and  the  cap- 
tor of  Brussels  was  received  with  the  boundless  enthu- 
siasm which  the  French  always  bestow  on  a  successful 
general.  Even  at  the  barriers  of  the  city  he  met  inti- 
mations of  the  applause  in  store  for  him.  The  octroi 
on  provisions  entering  a  town,  the  mediaeval  impost 
which  the  French  have  never  made  sufficient  progress 
in  political  economy  to  replace  by  less  burdensome 
duties,  was  in  force  then  as  it  is  now,  and  the  carriage 
in  which  Maurice  rode  was  stopped  at  the  gate  by  a 
subordinate  to  see  if  it  contained  anything  subject  to 
duty.  "  What  do  you  mean  by  stopping  the  marshal," 
cried  a  superior,  who  recognized  him.  "  Do  you  think 
that  laurels  are  subject  to  the  octroi  ?  " 

Maurice  had  already  received  practical  marks  of  the 
gratitude  of  the  sovereign  whom  he  served  so  well ;  his 
offices  and  pensions  yielded  an  income  of  three  hun- 
dred thousand  francs  a  year,  and  he  had  been  granted 
*  Lettres  de  Saxe,  ii.  157;  Journal  de  Barbier,  Fcbmary,  1746. 


CLOSE  OF  THE   WAR.  353 

for  life  the  magnificent  property  of  Chanibord  where 
lie  supported  the  pomp  and  state  of  a  sovereign  .^  He 
now  received  new  marks  of  distinction,  which  to  a 
courtier  would  have  seemed  as  valuable  as  those 
enormous  emoluments.  Louis  XV.  embraced  him  in 
the  presence  of  the  court,  and  he  was  admitted  to  the 
"grandes  entrees,"  which  gave  him  the  right  to  view 
his  sovereign  in  bed. 

Maurice  was  little  of  a  courtier,  and  the  honors 
which  he  received  from  the  public  pleased  him  more 
than  any  entrees  at  Versailles.  All  his  life  he  had 
been  an  enthusiastic  lover  of  the  stage ;  he  was  known 
to  the  actors  and  only  too  well  known  to  the  actresses 
of  Paris  ;  now  he  returned  to  receive  their  applause  in 
the  fullness  of  his  glory.  On  the  18th  of  February,  he 
attended  the  opera  to  see  a  representation  of  Armide ; 
the  hall  was  filled  to  suffocation,  and  as  Maurice  en- 
tered he  was  greeted  by  cries  of  "  Long  live  Marshal 
Saxe,"  and  by  a  prolonged  applause  in  which  all  joined 
save  the  ladies,  whom  a  strict  etiquette  forbade  to  clap 
their  hands.^  In  the  prologue  of  the  opera  was  a 
passage,  originally  written  for  Louis  XIV.,  in  which 
Glory  declares  that  all  the  universe  must  yield  to  the 
august  hero  whom  she  loves.  Mile.  Metz,  a  famous 
actress  of  the  day,  had  the  role  of  Glory,  and  as  she 
sang  these  words  she  advanced  to  the  edge  of  the  stage 
with  a  crown  of  laurels,  and  endeavored  to  present  it 
to  the  marshal.     Maurice  was  unprepared  for  this  effu- 

1  For  the  amount  of  his  pensions,  see  letter  of  Saxe,  May  31, 
1745,  cited  by  Broglie. 

-  Mile,  de  la  Roche  sur  Yon,  of  the  {:^reat  Condd  family,  sent 
word  to  the  marshal  that  if  it  wore  only  the  custom  for  ladies  to 
clap  their  hands,  she  should  have  been  the  first  to  join  in  the 
applause  of  the  public.     Journal  de  Barbier,  February,  17-16. 


854  FRANCE  UNDER  LGUIS  XV. 

sion  and  sought  to  decline,  but  enthusiastic  spectators 
seized  the  crown  and  forced  it  upon  him,  while  the 
opera  house  rang  with  frantic  applause.  "  Such  an 
honor,"  wrote  one  of  the  audience,  "  is  well  worth  a 
Konian  triumph.  Marshal  Saxe  is  crowned  by  Glory 
in  the  presence  of  the  most  brilliant  audience  in  Eu- 
rope." ^  The  part  of  Glory,  he  adds,  was  not  an  un- 
profitable one,  for  the  marshal  afterwards  sent  Mile. 
Metz  a  pair  of  earrings  worth  ten  thousand  livres. 

Maurice  delighted  in  such  scenes,  and  few  men 
would  have  been  unaffected  by  them,  but  he  did  not 
allow  coronations  by  Glory  to  delay  his  return  to  the 
field,  where  he  could  show  that  such  honors  were  not 
undeserved.  By  April,  he  was  again  with  his  army, 
but  the  vigor  of  his  operations  was  hampered  by  the 
instructions  of  the  government.  It  was  among  the 
many  anomalies  of  this  war  that  the  Dutch  sent  sol- 
diers to  fight  against  the  French,  though  the  two  nations 
were  nominally  at  peace.  The  treaty  of  Utrecht  had 
established  a  barrier  of  fortresses  for  the  protection  of 
Holland,  and,  though  these  belonged  to  Austria,  the 
Dutch  were  bound  to  furnish  soldiers  for  their  defense. 
The  barrier,  to  obtain  which  so  much  blood  had  been 
shed,  proved  of  as  little  use  to  Holland  as  the  Bourr 
bons  in  Spain  to  France  ;  in  time  of  peace  the  Dutch 
had  no  need  of  a  barrier,  and  in  time  of  war  it  did 
not  keep  away  the  French.  The  most  of  Flanders  had 
already  been  conquered,  and  it  was  now  said  that  it 
was  time  to  notify  the  Dutch  that  they  must  cease  giv-» 
ing  aid  to  the  enemies  of  France,  or  the  French  armies 
without  more  delay  would  carry  the  war  into  Holland 
itself.  Such  a  course  would  have  been  wise,  and  it 
was  desired  by  Maurice,  but  it  did  not  accord  with 
1  Barbier,  iv.  132-134. 


CLOSE  OF  THE    WAR.  355 

the  pacific  views  of  the  minister  for  foreign  affairs, 
whose  voice  was  now  most  influential  in  Louis's  coun- 
cils. Maurice  was  accordingly  instructed  not  to  allow 
any  pursuit  of  the  enemy  to  lead  him  into  an  invasion 
of  Dutch  soil ;  the  allies  prudently  kept  near  the 
boundary,  and  the  campaign  of  1746  was  mostly 
occupied  in  capturing  the  cities  which  the  Austrians 
still  held  in  Flanders.  Mons,  Charleroi,  Namur,  and 
Antwerp  were  taken  with  little  difficulty,  but  further 
advance  was  checked,  not  by  any  serious  obstacles  in 
the  way,  but  by  the  instructions  of  the  government. 

As  he  could  not  furnish  his  officers  with  much 
fighting,  Maurice  sought  to  supply  other  pleasures 
which  were  agreeable  to  him  as  well  as  to  his  subor- 
dinates. These  campaigns  of  Maurice  de  Saxe  in  the 
Low  Countries  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  war 
was  carried  on  at  its  best  under  the  old  regime  :  when 
glory  and  pleasure  went  hand  in  hand,  when  the  life 
of  the  camp  was  as  gay  as  Versailles,  with  the  addi- 
tional excitement  of  fighting,  when  officers  gambled 
and  reveled  all  night  and  went  to  face  death  with 
reckless  gallantry  in  the  morning.  Maurice  pro- 
fessed to  act  upon  principle  in  trying  to  make  army 
life  interesting.  French  officers,  he  said,  must  be 
diverted,  and  when  there  was  no  fighting  to  do,  he 
must  supply  something  else.  Accordingly  a  company 
of  comedians  was  engaged,  under  the  leadersliip  of 
Favart,  who  was  well  known  at  Paris  as  a  director 
and  as  an  author,  and  a  regular  series  of  representa- 
tions was  given  at  headquarters,  "Your  comedy," 
Maurice  wrote  him,  "  I  do  not  regard  simply  as 
an  object  of  amusement ;  it  enters  into  my  political 
views  and  into  my  plan  of  military  operations."  ^  In 
1  Mtm.  dfl  Favnrf,  Int.  22. 


366  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

addition  to  such  considerations,  Favart  had  a  good 
troupe  and  he  had  a  pretty  wife,  and  both  of  these 
were  agreeable  to  a  general  who  no  more  allowed  his 
occupations  to  interfere  with  his  pleasures  than  his 
pleasures  to  interfere  with  his  duties. 

The  campaign  of  1746  was  not  to  end  without  some- 
thing of  more  importance  than  the  successful  perform- 
ance of  comedies.  Late  in  September,  Prince  Charles 
crossed  the  Meuse  and  encamped  near  the  banks  of  the 
stream.  The  position  of  the  Austrian  commander  was 
singularly  ill  chosen,  for  his  army  was  almost  cut  in 
two  by  deep  ravines,  while  a  retreat  could  only  be 
made  under  great  difficulties.  Maurice  hoped,  there- 
fore, that  by  a  successful  attack  he  could  annihilate  the 
enemy's  forces,  as  they  were  hemmed  in  by  the  hills 
and  the  river,  and  could  not  escape  pursuit  by  a  speedy 
retreat  within  the  Dutch  boimdary.  He  at  once  re- 
.  solved  to  seize  the  opportunity,  but  with  habitual 
secrecy  he  kept  this  decision  to  himself ;  he  never  held 
councils  of  war,  never  asked  advice  from  others,  and 
never  revealed  his  plans  until  he  was  ready  for  action. 

No  one  expected  a  battle  ;  it  was  now  late  in  the 
season ;  the  officers  were  anticipating  a  speedy  return 
to  Paris,  and  the  men  were  looking  forward  to  winter 
quarters.  The  decision  of  the  commander-in-chief  was 
conveyed  to  his  subordinates  in  a  manner  novel  in  the 
annals  of  warfare,  but  characteristic  of  Maurice  de 
Saxe.  On  the  10th  of  October,  he  said  to  Favart, 
*'  To-morrow  I  shall  give  battle ;  no  one  knows  of  this ; 
I  wish  you  to  announce  it  at  the  close  of  the  represen- 
tation this  evening  in  some  couplets  which  you  can 
prepare  for  the  occasion."  ^  In  the  evening  the  theatre 
was  crowded  as  usual  with  officers  of  all  ranks,  who 
*  Mem.  de  Favart,  25-27,  Thdatre  de  Maurice  de  Saxe. 


CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR.  367 

watched  the  performance  with  satisfaction.  At  the 
close  Chantilly,  a  pretty  and  popular  actress,  advanced 
to  the  front  of  the  stage,  and  sang  to  a  martial  air 
some  lines  which  informed  the  audience  that  on  the 
morrow  the  theatre  was  to  be  closed,  for  to-morrow 
was  to  be  a  day  of  battle,  a  day  of  glory ;  but  on  the 
following  evening  they  were  bidden  to  return  and  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  their  victory  in  listening  to  the  perform- 
ance of  the  "  Jolly  Lovers  "  and  "  Cythera  Besieged." 
At  first  the  officers  hardly  knew  whether  to  accept  the 
comedienne  as  the  mouthpiece  of  their  commander, 
but  they  soon  discovered  that  she  spoke  with  authority, 
and  if  the  announcement  of  a  battle  excited  surprise, 
it  was  received  with  enthusiasm.  So  complete  was  the 
confidence  in  Maurice's  genius  that  no  one  doubted  the 
result ;  the  actors  hired  horses  that  they  might  watch 
the  engagement,  and  the  performance  of  "  Cythera  Be- 
sieged "  on  the  day  after  the  victory  was  regarded  as 
certain  as  if  it  had  been  advertised  at  the  Comedie 
Fran^aise  in  Paris. 

These  anticipations  were  not  disappointed,  but  rain 
and  fog  so  delayed  the  movements  of  the  French 
that  not  until  afternoon  did  the  battle  fairly  begin. 
Though  it  was  stubbornly  contested,  Maurice  suc- 
ceeded in  driving  the  English  and  Dutch  from  their 
iutrenchments,  while  the  Austrian  s  took  little  part  in 
the  engagement.  Unfortunately  for  his  plans  the 
day  was  short,  and  by  the  time  the  enemy  was  dis- 
lodged it  was  already  dark ;  two  hours  more  of  day- 
light, said  Maurice,  and  few  of  them  could  have 
escaped.^  It  was  impossible  to  pursue,  the  fugitives 
in  the  darkness,  and  they  made  their  retreat  without 
serious  difficulty.  The  allies  lost  some  eight  thousand 
*  Mem.  (VEspagiiac,  ii.  309. 


358  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

men,  and  the  French  had  the  glory  of  defeating  them^ 
but  except  for  the  moral  effect,  for  the  satisfaction 
which  victory  gave  the  French,  for  the  recrimination 
and  bickering  it  excited  among  their  opponents,  each 
of  whom  accused  the  other  of  having  faint-hearted  sol- 
diers and  inefficient  generals,  the  results  of  the  battle 
of  Roucoux  were  not  important.^  On  the  following 
night  the  ojBficers  listened  to  the  representation  of  the 
"  Jolly  Lovers,"  and  greeted  Maurice  with  enthusiastic 
applause  when  he  made  his  appearance  at  the  play. 

Nearly  two  years  passed  before  peace  was  made. 
The  French  continued  their  uninterrupted  progress 
in  the  Austrian  Low  Countries,  and  with  little  diffi- 
culty could  have  overrun  Holland  ;  they  were  superior 
in  numbers,  and  against  Maurice  de  Saxe  the  allies 
had  no  chance  of  success  even  with  equal  forces.  In 
1747,  they  were  again  defeated  in  a  great  battle  at 
Lawfeldt ;  the  English  soldiers  fought  with  bravery 
but  without  success,  the  Austrians  conducted  them- 
selves with  the  listlessness  they  often  showed  during 
these  campaigns.  Louis  was  present  with  his  army 
at  the  battle,  and  was  as  just  in  his  criticisms  on  the 
enemy's  conduct  as  he  was  probably  sincere  in  at- 
tributing the  result  to  supernatural  aid.  This  great 
victory,  he  wrote  the  queen,  was  due  to  the  marked 
protection  of  the  Virgin  ;  the  battle  was  fought  on 
the  fete  of  the  Visitation,  and  it  was  waged  against 
heretics  alone,  for  the  Austrians,  after  their  usual 
fashion,  contented  themselves  with  acting  as  benevo- 
lent spectators  of  the  engagement.^ 

There  were  many  reasons  for  the  listless  conduct 
of  the  Austrians  ;  the  long  war  had  exhausted  the  re- 

*  See  report  and  letters  of  Saxe,  Mem.  (TEspagnaCf  etc. 

*  Mem.  de  Luynes,  July  5,  1747- 


CLOSE   OF  THE   WAR.  359 

sources  of  Maria  Theresa,  and,  even  with  the  English 
subsidies,  it  was  with  difficulty  she  could  keep  her 
armies  in  the  field.  The  campaigns  in  the  Low 
Countries  had  also  little  interest  for  her ;  these  prov- 
inces were  far  removed,  and  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht 
the  most  important  fortresses  were  put  in  the  charge 
of  the  Dutch.  The  maritime  powers  believed  this 
barrier  was  required  for  the  protection  of  Holland, 
but  Maria  Theresa  regarded  it  as  far  less  important 
to  Austria  than  Silesia,  or  even  Milan  ;  if  the  mari- 
time powers  considered  the  Austrian  Low  Countries 
of  vital  importance,  she  thought  it  was  their  business 
to  defend  them.  There  was  another  reason  which 
justified  Maria  Theresa  in  her  indifference.  While 
the  French  had  conquered  all  of  Flanders,  they  con-  '^ 
stantly  declared  they  would  not  keep  a  foot  of  it. 
Similar  claims  of  disinterestedness  had,  indeed,  beeu 
made  before  by  French  statesmen  at  the  beginnings  of 
wars  and  forgotten  before  their  close ;  but  such  was 
the  character  of  the  men  then  in  the  French  councils, 
that  the  queen  felt  she  could  rely  on  their  professions. 
Argenson  had  already  begim  negotiations  for  peace, 
and  his  first  announcement  was  that  France  desired 
no  conquests,  she  sought  nothing  for  herself.  Whether 
Maurice  de  Saxe  took  more  or  fewer  cities  seemed, 
therefore,  unimportant,  for  they  woidd  all  be  returned 
when  the  war  was  over. 

Even  if  the  politicians  would  make  no  use  of  his 
victories,  Maurice  continued  to  win  them.  At  last  he 
obtained  permission  to  advance  into  Holland,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1747,  he  entered  Zealand  ;  he  captured 
the  Dutch  fortresses  without  trouble,  and  soon  made 
himself  master  of  the  entire  course  of  the  Scheldt. 
In  July,  he  defeated  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  at  Law- 


860  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

feldt,  and  his  favorite  lieutenant,  Lowendalil,  laid 
siege  to  Berg  op  Zoom.  This  fortress  was  one  of  the 
strongest  in  the  country,  and  was  regarded  as  the  key 
of  Holland,  hut  its  strength  was  not  sufficient  to  save 
it,  and  on  September  16,  the  town  surrendered.  The 
news  was  received  with  dismay  at  Amsterdam  and  the 
great  cities  of  Holland ;  the  Dutch  had  long  been 
making  war  on  France  with  the  comfortable  feeling 
that  they  themselves  were  safe  from  invasion,  and  they 
were  amazed  and  terrified  when  the  French  at  last 
ventured  to  cross  their  boundaries. 

/  While  the  French  arms  were  successful  on  land, 
the  English  held  the  supremacy  of  the  sea.  It  is  not 
an  overstatement  that  on  the  sea  the  English  were 
twice  as  strong  as  the  French  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  and  this  preponderance  was  largely  increased 
before  its  close.  The  inferiority  of  the  French  navy 
was  due  to  neglect  and  not  to  necessity.  France 
exceeded  England  in  population,  the  national  revenues 
were  larger,  the  facilities  for  shipbuilding  were  as 
good.  But  the  attention  of  the  government  was  con- 
centrated on  the  army ;  remiss  as  were  all  branches 
of  the  administration,  the  department  of  the  navy  suf- 

/  fered  most  from  neglect.  In  1747,  the  minister  of 
the  marine  estimated  that  with  less  than  forty  million 
livres  it  was  possible  so  to  increase  the  strength  of  the 
navy  that  it  would  be  sufficient  to  protect  the  colonies 
and  the  foreign  interests  of  France,  and  unless  such 
an  effort  was  made,  he  justly  prophesied  the  loss  of 
the  French  possessions  in  America.^  This  sum  was 
no  more  than  Mme.  de  Pompadour  received  from  the 
treasury  to  satisfy  her  taste  for  luxury  and  pomp,  but 
the  lavish  expenditures  of  the  court  were  not  curtailed, 
'  Mem.  of  Maurepas,  November  22,  1747. 


CLOSE  OF  THE   WAR.  361 

the  strength  of  the  navy  was  not  increased,  and  both 
America  and  India  were  lost. 

The  English  navy  won  few  great  victories  during 
this  war,^  for  the  engagement  at  Toulon  in  1744,  the 
only  one  in  which  a  large  number  of  ships  took  part, 
resulted  in  a  drawn  battle.  But  in  India  the  English 
fleet  hampered  the  progress  of  Dupleix ;  in  the  West 
it  assisted  the  New  England  colonists  and  helped  in 
the  capture  of  Louisburg,  the  most  important  military 
possession  of  the  French  in  America.  The  year  1747 
was  marked  by  successes  for  the  English  which,  while 
no  one  of  them  was  very  important,  were  in  the  aggre- 
gate disastrous  to  their  adversaries.  The  French,  with 
inferior  forces,  encountered  Anson  off  Cape  Finisterre 
and  Hawke  off  Belle  Isle,  and  in  each  engagement  they 
suffered  severely.  Since  the  war  began  the  French 
had  lost  twenty-four  ships  of  the  line,  twelve  hundred 
cannon,  and  over  ten  thousand  men,  and  such  losses 
were  fatal  to  a  navy  that  was  feeble  at  the  beginning.^ 
The  disasters  suffered  by  the  merchant  marine  were 
still  more  severe ;  there  were  not  sufficient  war-ships 
to  protect  convoys,  and  it  was  not  strange  that  many 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Though  French 
privateers  did  much  injury  to  English  commerce,  the 
losses  of  the  English  bore  a  much  smaller  proportion 
to  their  entire  merchant  shipping. 

While  the  English  were  victorious  in  the  West,  the 
French  met  with  successes  which  might  have  proved 
of  importance  in  the  East.  In  1746,  Madras  was  cap- 
tured, and  the  efforts  of  Dupleix,  had  they  been 
seconded  by  his  government,  would  have  established 
the  ascendency  of  France  in  India.  The  condition  of 
affairs  in  this  great  field  received  no  attention  at  Ver- 
^  List  published  in  Mem.  de  Luynes,  viii.  420. 


862  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

sailles;  the  news  of  the  capture  of  Madras  reached 
France  seven  months  afterwards,  and  was  followed  by 
vague  rumors  of  quarrels  between  Dupleix  and  Bour- 
donnais,  but  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  man 
in  France,  and  certainly  there  was  not  a  man  in  the 
royal  councils,  who  regarded  the  possibility  of  estab- 
lishing an  Eastern  empire  as  of  the  least  importance ; 
the  Indian  question  received  no  attention  during  the 
war,  and  was  not  deemed  worthy  of  discussion  in  the 
negotiations  for  peace.^ 

Little  heed  was  given  to  any  extension  of  the 
French  frontiers,  or  to  the  future  of  the  French  pos- 
sessions in  India  and  America ;  the  sole  object,  appar- 
.  y  ently,  for  which  the  war  was  waged  during  the  last 
three  years  was  a  satisfactory  principality  in  Italy  for 
the  son  of  Philip  V.  Argenson  justly  said  that  the 
king  regarded  his  conquests  in  Flanders  as  valuable 
only  for  securing  the  interests  of  the  infante.^ 

In  1746,  a  conference  was  held  at  Breda,  under  the 
auspices  of  Argenson,  in  the  hope  of  bringing  this 
long  war  to  a  close,  but  it  met  with  the  ill  success  of 
all  his  diplomatic  enterprises.  So  meek  was  the  atti- 
tude of  France,  that  it  encouraged  the  representatives 
of  Spain  and  Holland  to  make  such  extravagant 
demands  that  even  the  French  ministers  would  not 
discuss  them ;  the  meeting  was  regarded  by  diplomats 
as  little  more  than  a  farce,  and  soon  came  to  an  end,^ 

^  How  vague  and  uncertain  were  the  reports  as  to  affairs  in 
India  may  be  seen  in  the  memoirs  of  Luynes,  who  was  well 
informed,  and  who  noted  down  daily  the  news  received  at  the 
court. 

'  Argenson  to  Vaureal,  Cor.  d'Esp.,  1745. 

'  These  negotiations,  which  were  of  no  practical  importance, 
can  be  followed  in  the  Cor.  de  Breda  at  the  Aff.  Etr.  Argenson 
g^ves  his  account  in  his  Memoires,  t.  iv.  331-365. 


CLOSE   OF  THE   WAR.  363 

The  failure  of  the  conference  was  accompanied  by 
the  disgrace  of  the  minister  who  had  organized  it. 
Argenson  had  made  no  more  mistakes  than  most  of 
the  ministers  of  Louis  XV.,  but  he  had  no  social 
graces,  no  adroitness  in  intrigue,  no  skill  in  amusing 
the  king  or  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  mistress ; 
the  virtues  of  his  character  were  as  disastrous  to  his 
favor  as  the  infirmities  of  his  judgment ;  he  had  no 
friends  at  court  to  protect  him  from  the  results  of 
his  failures,  and  no  diplomatic  successes  as  the  fruits 
of  an  eccentric  policy,  and  in  January,  1747,  he  was 
dismissed  from  office.^  His  place  was  taken  by 
Puisieulx,  a  man  who  was  inferior  to  his  predecessor 
in  intelligence,  and  not  superior  to  him  in  judgment. 

The  negotiations  which  had  proved  abortive  at 
Breda  were  again  undertaken,  and  this  time  with 
better  result.  An  accident  of  the  campaign  furnished 
an  opportunity  for  renewing  the  endeavors  for  peace. 
At  the  battle  of  Lawfeldt  the  English  General  Ligo- 
nier  was  taken  prisoner.  He  was  French  by  birth, 
and  was  one  of  the  many  Huguenots  who  used  their 
talents  against  the  country  which  had  driven  them 
from  its  boundaries.  Ligonier  spoke  French  as  his 
mother  tongue,  he  was  a  distinguished  soldier,  an 
agreeable  companion,  and  he  received  every  courtesy 
from  his  captors.  He  supped  with  the  king,  and  in 
the  freedom  of  social  intercourse  there  was  an  op- 
portunity for  suggestions  which  could  not  have  been 
made   in  formal  dispatches.     "  Is  it    not    better   to 

^  A  long  and  bitter  attack  by  the  Duke  of  Noailles  helped  to 
destroy  any  confidence  that  the  king  had  in  Argenson,  but  the 
unfortunate  minister  had  a  still  more  dangerous  enemy  in  Mar- 
slial  Saxe,  who  felt  that  Argenson's  cloudy  philanthropy  had 
tied  his  hands  and  checked  his  success  in  the  Low  Countries. 


364  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

think  seriously  about  peace,"  said  Louis,  "  than  to  be 
killing  so  many  brave  men  ? "  "  Why  do  not  you 
English  make  jjcace  ?  "  the  French  suggested ;  "  we 
desire  no  conquests,  no  new  possessions ;  let  every- 
thing captured  on  either  side  be  restored ;  give  the 
Spanish  infante  a  reasonable  settlement  and  we  will 
be  content."  ^ 

These  suggestions  were  transmitted  by  Ligonier  to 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  and  found  in  him  a  willing 
listener.  The  duke  had  abandoned  the  hope  of  gain- 
ing victories  from  Maurice  de  Saxe ;  as  there  seemed 
little  prospect  of  glory  by  carrying  on  war,  he  was 
now  ready  to  secure  the  credit  of  negotiating  an  hon- 
orable peace.2  Cumberland  was  the  favorite  son  of 
George  II.,  and  his  desires  had  a  strong  influence  in 
moderating  the  warlike  zeal  of  his  bellicose  father, 
while  the  English  ministers,  for  the  most  part,  were 
glad  to  see  any  way  of  ending  a  long  and  an  unsuc- 
cessful war.  "  We  might  have  had  last  year  a  better 
peace  than  we  shall  be  able  to  obtain  this,"  wrote  the 
English  prime  minister,  "  and  this  a  better  than  wo 
shall  get  the  next."  ^  "  I  do  not  at  present  see  the 
resources  for  carrying  on  the  war  or  mending  our  con- 
dition," said  the  chancellor,  "  and  it  wiU  grow  worse 
and  worse." 

Saxe  and  Cumberland  were  not  able  to  follow  the 
example  of  Boufflers  and  Portland  half  a  century 
before,   and   arrange  terms  of  peace  between  their 

*  The  letters  in  which  Saxe  gave  formal  expression  to  some 
of  these  views  are  published  in  Geheimnisse  des  Sdchsischen  Cabi- 
nets, i.  232-234. 

^  "  We  mwst  do  the  best  we  can  to  get  out  of  the  scrape  before 
we  are  too  far  gone,"  he  wrote  Sandwich  in  April,  1748. 

•  Pelbam  to  Walpole,  August  14,  1747,  cited  by  Coxe. 


CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR.  866 

countries  -without  diplomatic  formalities,  but  as  a 
result  of  these  endeavors  a  congress  was  agreed  on 
to  which  all  the  combatants  were  bidden.  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  was  selected  as  the  place  of  its  meeting,  and 
thither,  in  the  early  part  of  1748,  the  representatives 
of  the  great  powers  of  Europe  began  to  make  their 
way.  France  sent  the  Count  of  St.  Severin,  an  Ital- 
ian by  birth,  and  in  the  acuteness  of  his  mind,  as 
well  as  in  his  freedom  from  scruple,  a  worthy  dis- 
ciple of  the  Macchiavelian  school.^  Lord  Sandwich 
appeared  for  England,  and  the  empress  queen  sent 
Count  Kaunitz,  the  most  acute  and  the  most  able  of 
Austrian  statesmen. 

Yet  though  so  many  famous  diplomats  were  hasten- 
ing to  Aix-la-Chapelle,  few  believed  that  peace  would 
be  made.  Maria  Theresa  saw  little  prospect  of  ob- 
taining conditions  that  would  be  satisfactory  to  her 
pride,  the  English  were  loath  to  offend  their  colonists 
by  surrendering  Louisburg,  and  Spain  was  sure  to  be 
discontented,  no  matter  what  advantages  she  might 
gain. 

The  hopes  of  the  allies  were  encouraged  also  by 
the  entry  of  a  new  actor  on  the  scene,  and  it  seemed 
possible  that  the  unbroken  success  of  the  French 
armies  under  Marshal  Saxe  might  be  checked  by 
opponents  who  would  appear  for  the  first  time  on  the 
battlefields  of  western  Europe.^  After  years  of  diplo- 
matic efforts  and  of  changing  counsels,  the  Empress 
Elizabeth  at  last  consented  to  furnish  thirty  thousand 

^  "C'est  une  quintessence  de  finesses  italiennes  francis^es." 
Kaunitz  to  Ulfeld,  June  31,  1748. 

^  Eighteen  thousand  Russians  were  sent  to  assist  Austria  in 
1735,  but  active  hostilities  had  ceased  before  their  arrival  at  the 
Rhine. 


866  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Hussian  soldiers,  for  whom  she  was  to  be  liberally 
paid  by  the  maritime  powers.  Such  bargains  were 
often  made  with  the  petty  German  princes,  who  were 
always  ready  to  sell  their  subjects  to  any  purchaser, 
but  it  was  a  new  thing  for  the  remote  and  almost  un- 
known empire  of  Russia  to  take  part  in  the  quarrels 
of  western  states.  In  February,  1748,  the  Russians 
crossed  the  Polish  frontier  and  started  on  their  long 
march  of  one  thousand  miles  from  the  Vistida  to  the 
fields  of  Flanders.  The  countries  through  which  they 
had  to  pass  viewed  with  apprehension  the  sojourn  of 
a  great  body  of  men  who  were  regarded  as  barbarians, 
and  who  were  in  truth  not  far  removed  from  barba- 
rism, and  while  their  allies  hoped  for  important  results 
from  these  Russian  reinforcements,  yet  all  watched 
with  curiosity,  not  unmingled  with  uneasiness,  the  con- 
duct and  military  qualities  of  a  race  which  was  mak- 
ing its  entry  into  the  politics  and  warfare  of  civilized 
nations. 

There  was  no  opportunity  to  gratify  this  curiosity. 
The  Russian  hordes  advanced  with  great  deliberation, 
and  Marshal  Saxe  was  not  the  man  to  wait  for  them. 
In  April,  1748,  he  marched  rapidly  on  Maestricht, 
and,  before  any  steps  could  be  taken  to  hinder  him, 
the  town  was  invested,  and  its  surrender,  with  the  ten 
thousand  men  forming  its  garrison,  was  only  a  ques- 
tion of  time.  This  news  came  like  a  thunderbolt  upon 
the  negotiators  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  Maestricht  was 
one  of  the  most  important  of  the  frontier  fortresses ; 
its  capture  would  leave  a  large  part  of  Holland  open 
to  invasion,  and  with  little  means  of  checking  the 
enemy  except  the  dolorous  resort  of  cutting  the  dykes 
and  turning  the  land  into  sea ;  before  the  usual  wran- 
gles over  diplomatic  formalities  could  be  adjusted, 


CLOSE  OF  THE   WAR.  367 

Maurice  could  conquer  the  Seven  Provinces.  Peace 
will  be  made  at  Maestricht,  he  had  said,  and  so  it 
proved  ;  victory  at  Maestricht  brought  peace  at  Aix. 
The  sound  of  the  cannon  could  easily  be  heard  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle.  "  I  do  not  know,"  wrote  Maurice, 
"  whether  this  agreeable  music  will  incline  the  lis- 
teners to  thoughts  of  peace,  or  will  excite  their  war- 
like ardor."  ^     Its  influence  proved  pacific. 

Yet  another  embarrassment  inclined  the  allies  to 
agree  on  terms.  England  and  Holland  had  promised 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  Russian  contingent,  but 
the  Dutch  could  no  longer  support  war  as  in  the 
daj'S  of  Louis  XIV. ;  they  suddenly  confessed  that 
their  resources  were  exhausted,  and  applied  to  the 
English  for  the  loan  of  a  million  pounds.  Pelham 
was  already  appalled  at  the  cost  of  the  war,  and  now 
the  additional  expense  of  thirty  thousand  men  was 
to  be  thrown  on  England  alone.  "  We  fight  all  and 
we  pay  all,"  he  said,  "  but  we  are  beaten  and  we  shall 
be  broke." 

The  position  taken  by  the  allies  became  more  con- 
ciliatory, and  the  course  of  the  negotiations  indicated 
the  great  political  change  that  was  to  be  consummated 
a  few  years  later.  Instead  of  Austria  and  the  marl- 
time  powers  acting  together  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in 
presenting  their  claims  against  France,  the  common 
enemy,  the  terms  asked  by  the  English  and  Dutch 
were  often  those  which  Avere  most  disagreeable  to 
Maria  Theresa.  As  a  natural  result,  on  one  night 
St.  Sevorin  would  be  listening  to  offers  from  Sand- 
wich, and  on  the  next  he  would  be  engaged  in  secret 
conferences  with  Kaunitz ;  each  party  sought  to  in- 
duce the  representative  of  France  to  agree  on  a  pro- 
1  Saxe  to  St.  Sevcrin,  April  21,  1748,  Aff.  Etr. 


368  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

gramme  agreeable  to  itself,  and  was  willing  to  make 
liberal  concessions  at  the  expense  of  its  allies.  When 
such  was  the  diplomatic  position,  when  all  of  Austrian 
Flanders  was  held  by  the  French,  when  the  victorious 
army  of  Maurice  de  Saxe  was  before  Maestricht,  and 
Holland  was  defenseless,  the  French  statesmen  of  a 
former  day  would  have  utilized  the  situation  to  obtain 
important  advantages  for  their  country.  This  was 
not  done,  and  the  blame  rests,  not  on  St.  Severin,  who 
was  a  sagacious,  if  not  always  a  scrupulous  diplomat, 
but  on  those  whose  instructions  he  was  bound  to  obey. 
It  was  a  famous  declaration  of  Louis  XV.  that  he 
did  not  make  peace  as  a  merchant,  and  never  did  king 
utter  a  more  foolish  saying.  To  scorn  material  ad- 
vantages for  his  own  country  may  have  seemed  to 
courtiers  at  Versailles  an  exhibition  of  aristocratic 
elevation  of  feeling,  but  such  a  policy  did  not  excite 
the  admiration  of  the  greatest  general  or  the  greatest 
sovereign  in  Europe. 

Saxe  felt  a  natural  irritation  at  seeing  the  results 
of  his  four  years  of  victory  frittered  away.  "  It  is 
worth  while,"  he  wrote  of  the  proposition  to  restore 
Flanders  without  compensation,  "  to  be  at  some  trouble 
to  acquire  a  province  like  this,  which  furnishes  a 
magnificent  poi-t,  millions  of  inhabitants,  and  an  im- 
pregnable barrier.  Such  are  my  views.  I  don't  un- 
d(!rstand  your  infernal  politics,  but  I  know  tliat  the 
king  of  Prussia  took  Silesia  and  kept  it,  and  I  wish 
we  might  imitate  him."  ^ 

Frederick  had  no  personal  interest  in  what  France 

could  gain,  but,  as  a  political  artist,  he  seems  U)  have 

felt  genuine  regret  that  men  who  had  such  manifest 

advantages  on  their  side  should  not  know  how  to  use 

*  Maurice  to  Muurepas,  Lettres  de  Saxe,  v.  269. 


CLOSE  OF  THE   WAR.  369 

them.  "  The  men  who  govern  France,"  he  wrote, 
"  are  idiots  and  ignoramuses  not  to  know  better  how 
to  profit  by  the  situation."  The  opinion  of  Frederick 
on  this,  as  on  many  occasions,  has  become  the  verdict 
of  history. 

It  had,  however,  been  decided  at  Versailles  that 
France  should  ask  for  no  advantages  of  any  nature, 
political  or  commercial,  and  that  the  war  should  be  car- 
ried on  solely  for  the  benefit  of  others.  St.  Severin 
asked  only  that  Louisburg  should  be  returned  in  ex- 
change for  Madras,  and  said  that  France  would  sur- 
render the  Low  Countries  in  return  for  an  establish- 
ment in  Italy  for  Louis  XV. 's  son-in-law,  the  infante 
Philip  of  Spain.  Terms  so  reasonable  excited  little 
demur  from  Austria  or  England,  but  on  other  ques- 
tions the  two  nations  held  very  different  views.  It  was 
under  English  pressure  that  Maria  Theresa  had  signed 
the  treaty  of  Worms,  by  which  she  granted  Pavia 
and  territories  along  the  Po  to  the  king  of  Sardinia, 
and  under  the  same  influence  she  had  consented  to 
cede  Silesia  to  Prussia.  But  Sardinia,  said  the  queen, 
and  with  some  degree  of  justice,  had  not  fulfilled  her 
agreements,  the  Bourbons  had  not  been  driven  out  of 
Italy,  Naples  had  not  been  obtained  for  Austria ;  as 
the  work  was  not  done,  the  wages  were  not  earned, 
and  the  provinces  to  which  Charles  Emmanuel  had 
no  just  right  could  properly  be  used  to  satisfy  the 
demands  of  the  Spanish  infante.  Still  more  bitterly 
did  the  empress  queen  protest  against  any  ratification 
of  Frederick's  possession  of  Silesia.  "  Although  the 
queen  of  Hungary,"  so  ran  the  secret  articles  pre- 
pared by  Austria,  "  was  far  removed  from  any  thought 
of  violating  the  treaty  of  Dresden  if  the  king  of 
Prussia  conformed  strictly  to  it',"  yet  it  was  insisted 


370  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

that  no  guarantee  of  Silesia  should  be  given  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelle.^ 

The  French  were  in  position  to  accede  to  these 
views.  The  treaty  of  Worms  formed  a  combination 
hostile  to  them,  the  treaty  of  Dresden  was  made  by 
Frederick  when  he  deserted  their  alliance  ;  they  could 
properly  say  that  they  had  no  voice  in  either  of  them, 
and  it  did  not  concern  France  whether  their  terms 
were  observed  or  violated. 

But  the  desires  of  Maria  Theresa  went  further  than 
this,  and  she  contemplated  the  possibility  of  a  new  com- 
bination among  the  European  powers.  The  alliance  of 
/  France  and  Austria  in  1756  has  been  regarded  as  a 
sudden  caprice,  a  bizarre  political  change,  the  whim 
of  a  mistress,  flattered  by  a  sovereign.  Certainly  the 
alliance  with  Austria  would  not  have  been  made  if 
Mme.  de  Pompadour  had  disapproved  of  it,  but  it  was 
no  sudden  change  ;  such  an  alliance  had  been  pro- 
posed and  considered,  half  favored  and  half  disap- 
proved, for  ten  years  before  it  was  at  last  consummated ; 
not  only  had  politicians  suggested  it,  but  the  course 
of  events,  political  sympathies  and  political  interests, 
from  the  time  that  Silesia  was  ceded  to  Frederick, 
had  all  tended  to  a  new  political  combination,  in  which 
Prussia  and  England  should  be  on  the  one  side  and 
France  and  Austria  on  the  other. 

From  the  first  Frederick  had  seen  that  England 
/  would  be  a  more  valuable  ally  for  him  than  France ; 

^  The  arti(»le8  which  Count  Loos  was  authorized  to  submit  are 
given  in  Vitzthum's  Geheimnisse  des  Sdchsischen  Cabinets.  The 
second  secret  article  of  the  proposed  treaty  stated  that  tlie 
queen  of  Hungary  had  no  thoughts  of  violating  the  treaty  of 
Dresden,  "  en  cas  que  s.  m.  le  roi  de  Prusse  s'y  tieune  exacte- 
meut." 


CLOSE  OF  THE   WAR.  371 

he  hated  George  II.,  but  he  despised  Louis  XV.,  and  ^ 
as  allies  he  preferred  the  English  to  the  French  ;  the  ^ 
English  could  furnish  him  with  money,  they  had  no  v 
ambition  for  territorial  aggrandizement  on  the  Con-  ^-' 
tinent,  they  professed  the  same  religious  faith  as  his    ' 
people,  a   Protestant  alliance  would   be   poi)ular  in 
England  and  would  be  faithfully  observed.     It  was 
only  after  the  failure  of  his  negotiations  with  Eng- 
land in  1741,  that  Frederick  threw  himself  into  the 
arms  of  France.     Notwithstanding  the  first  outcry  at 
his  unscrupulous  seizure  of  Silesia,  English  opinion 
soon  became  favorable  to  him,  and  he  owed  it  to  their 
intercession  that  Maria  Theresa  acceded  to  the  trea- 
ties of  Breslau  and  Dresden. 

While  Frederick  appreciated  the  benefits  he  re- 
ceived from  his  nominal  enemies,  Maria  Theresa 
became  constantly  more  irritated  at  the  concessions 
which  she  was  forced  to  make  by  her  nominal  allies, 
and,  weary  of  the  English,  she  now  sought  the  friend- 
ship of  France.^  These  tendencies  of  political  drift 
became  apparent  during  the  war  of  the  Austrian 
Succession.  Several  times  had  Maria  Theresa  en- 
deavored to  disarm  the  hostility  of  France,  to  induce 
the  French,  if  they  would  not  join  her  against  Fred- 
erick, at  least  to  allow  Austria  and  Prussia  to  fight 
out  their  battles  unaided.  Such  plans  had  been  hinted 
at  in  the  negotiations  in  1745,  and  were  repelled  by 
Argenson  ;  they  now  again  found  utterance.  The  posi- 
tion taken  by  her  English  allies  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in- 
creased the  discontent  of  the  empress  queen.  "  The 
English  system  appears  clearly,"  she  wrote  ;  "  it  con- 
sists in  increasing  the  greatness  of  Prussia  and  Sar- 

^  "  Meine  Feinde  werden  mir  bessere  Bedingungen  einraumen 
als  meine  Freuude,"  she  said. 


872  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

dinia  at  our  expense."  And  because  she  believed 
her  interests  were  sacrificed  by  her  allies,  she  strove 
the  more  to  establish  friendly  relations  with  France. 
*'  The  French  court  as  well  as  ourselves,"  she  wrote 
again,  "  should  draw  lessons  from  the  past.  If  thus 
far  France  has  shown  herself  hostile  to  the  interests 
of  our  House,  this  feeling  has  imposed  incalculable 
sacrifices  on  the  two  nations,  and  others  have  got 
the  profit.  .  .  .  France  must  see  that  England  and 
Prussia  are  working  to  weaken  the  great  Catholic 
powers,  and  that  our  common  interests  require  meas- 
ures to  defeat  their  projects."  ^ 

Politicians  like  Kaunitz  and  Maria  Theresa  could 
grasp  the  possibility  of  new  combinations  and  were 
ready  to  form  them,  but  Louis  XV.  and  his  advisers 
had  the  timidity  and  the  respect  for  established  tradi- 
tions which  are  found  in  weak  minds ;  they  received 
these  suggestions  with  apprehension,  not  wishing 
wholly  to  reject  them,  not  daring  wholly  to  accept 
them.  Unlike  Argenson,  Puisieulx  was  not  a  wor- 
shiper at  the  shrine  of  Frederick,  but  if  he  did  not 
love  the  king  he  greatly  feared  him,  and  he  was  in 
constant  apprehension  during  the  negotiations  at  Aix 
of  doing  something  that  would  give  offense  to  Prussia.^ 
He  decided,  therefore,  to  guarantee  the  possession  of 
Silesia,  not  because  he  was  interested  in  Frederick's 
acquisitions,  but  because  he  knew  the  king  would  be 
very  angry  and  very  abusive  if  this  was  not  done. 

While  Kaunitz  was  trying  to  win  the  French  to 
an  alliance  with  Austria,  Lord  Sandwich  was  also 

^  Maria  Theresa  to  Kaunitz,  April,  1748. 

*  "Quoique  nous  passions  sur  cet  article,"  he  wrote  in  his 
distress,  "  le  roi  des  Prusses  en  aura  connaissance  et  nous  en 
saura  toujours  mauvais  grd  ;  c'est  ce  qu'il  faudrait  ^viter." 


CLOSE   OF  THE   WAR.  373 

engaged  in  conferences  with  the  French  representa- 
tive, but  the  terms  demanded  by  the  English  were 
very  different  from  those  proposed  by  the  Austrians. 
Maria  Theresa  deemed  it  of  the  utmost  importance 
that  the  treaties  of  Dresden  and  Worms  should  be 
passed  by  in  silence,  but  the  English  insisted  upon 
a  solemn  ratification  of  Frederick's  title  to  Silesia 
and  of  the  grants  made  to  Charles  Emmanuel.     St. 
Severin  at  last  decided  to  accept  the  propositions  of 
the  maritime  powers,  and  on  the  30th  of  April,  1748, 
articles  were  signed  between  England,  France,  and  ^^ 
Holland,   which   formed   the   basis  of   the   treaty  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle.     By  them  France  agreed  to  surren-  / 
der  Madras  and  all  her  conquests  in  the  Low  Coun-  J{^ 
tries,  in  return  for  which  Louisburg  was  given  up  by  J* 
the  English.     This  was  the  only  advantage  the  French 
obtained  by  the  treaty.     To  the  Infante  Don  Philip, 
the  son  of  Philip  V.  and  Elizabeth  Farnese,  and  the 
son-in-law  of  Louis  XV.,  the  duchies  of  Parma,  Pia-  7 
cenza,  and  Guastella  were  ceded ;  the  king  of  Sardinia     _ 
kept  what  was  secured  to  him  by  the  treaty  of  Worms, 
with  the  exception  of  Piacenza ;  Frederick  was  guar-  , 
anteed  the  possession  of  Silesia ;  the  monopoly  of  the 
slave  trade  with  the  Spanish  colonies,  which  had  been  p 
interrupted  by  the  war,  was  secured  to  the  English 
for  the  unexpired  term.     Another  article  was  possibly 
not  of  great  importance,  but  was  so  humiliating  that 
it  is  amazing  the  French  should  have  submitted  to  it. 
By  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  made  at  the  darkest  period 
of  the   fortunes  of   France,  Louis  XIV.,  to  obtain 
peace   from   England,    had   consented    to    dismantle 
Dunkirk,  so  that  city  could  no  longer  serve  as  a  place 
of  refuge  for  privateers  or  ships  of  war.     It  is  not 
often   that   a  nation  submits  the  fortification  of  its 


374  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

cities  to  the  dictation  of  a  foreign  power :  such  terms 
might  be  imposed  by  Russia  on  Poland,  and  the  con- 
dition of  France  in  1711  could  explain  so  humiliating 
an  agreement;  but  in  1748  France  was  victorious, 
she  held  Flanders  in  her  grasp  and  Holland  at  her 
mercy ;  yet  the  same  condition  was  submitted  to : 
Dunkirk  was  again  to  be  dismantled  towards  the  sea, 
as  a  special  favor  the  French  were  permitted  to  for- 
tify it  on  the  land  side  ;  the  city  could  offer  no  resist- 
ance to  a  naval  power,  .but  was  allowed  to  defend  it- 
self against  an  enemy  on  land.  As  Pelham  wrote  his 
brother,  the  preliminaries  were  so  advantageous  to 
England  it  was  hard  to  believe  the  French  would 
agree  to  them.^ 

If  the  French  had  wished  to  profit  by  their  advan- 
tages, said  Lord  Chesterfield,  who  was  an  acute 
observer,  the  English  would  have  been  lost,  and  he 
sought  in  vain  to  account  for  their  moderation.'^ 

The  articles  thus  agreed  upon  were  presented  to  the 
other  powers,  but  with  the  intimation  that  no  modifica- 
tions would  be  allowed,  and  there  was  nothing  to  do  but 
to  accept  them.  Not  unnaturally  they  excited  a  storm 
of  disapproval  from  those  for  whom  peace  had  been 
made  without  their  being  consulted.  The  Spanish 
were  dissatisfied  with  the  provision  made  for  Don 
Philip,  and  incensed  at  the  commercial  privileges 
granted  the  English ;  the  king  of  Sardinia  was  dis- 
contented because  Piacenza  was  given  to  Spain,  but 
most  of  all  Maria  Theresa  denounced  the  treaty,  the 

*  Pelham  to  Newcastle,  October  4,  1748. 

'  "  The  French  were  under  no  necessity  to  lay  down  their  arms, 
while  the  allies  were  in  the  greatest  distress,  and  in  no  condition 
to  resist  their  victorious  progress."  Observations,  etc.,  H.  Wal- 
pole,  the  former  ambassador  to  France. 


CLOSE   OF  THE    WAR.  375 

conduct  of  her  allies  in  betraying  her,  the  conduct  of 
the  French  in  agreeing  on  terms  with  England  instead 
of  with  Austria. 

However  loudly  the  representatives  of  the  other 
powers  might  complain,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but 
accept  the  situation.  The  nations  aggrieved  had  no 
common  interest,  and  no  one  of  them  alone  was  in 
condition  to  continue  the  war.  Months  were  spent  in 
diplomatic  wrangles,  but  no  substantial  change  was 
made  in  the  conditions  agreed  upon.  One  after 
another  the  different  parties  yielded  to  the  inevitable : 
on  the  18th  of  October,  1748,  the  formal  treaty  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle  was  signed  by  the  representatives  of 
France  and  the  maritime  powers ;  two  days  later  it 
was  signed  by  the  Spanish  ambassador,  and  in  No- 
vember both  Austria  and  Sardinia  joined  in  an  instru- 
ment, to  the  terms  of  which  they  had  practically  con- 
sented some  time  before.^ 

A  war  of  seven  years  had  ended,  and  of  those  who 
took  part  in  it  no  one  had  gained  e^acept  Prussia  and 
Sardinia ;  the  pride  of  Elizabeth  Farnese  was  grati- 
fied to  have  her  son  become  a  sovereign,  though  his 
possessions  were  smaller  than  she  had  hoped  ;  Holland 
escaped  the  ruin  with  which  she  was  threatened ;  the 
English  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  their  hereditary 

^  From  the  French  side,  the  negotiations  of  Aix-la-Chapelle 
can  best  be  followed  in  Cor.  de  Breda  and  d' Aix-la-Chapelle, 
Aff.  Etr.  In  Arneth's  Maria  Theresia,  the  congress  is  reviewed 
from  the  Austrian  standpoint.  Frederick's  views  are  found  in 
Pol.  Cor.,  t.  vi.  Vitzthuna's  Geheimnisse  des  Sdchischen  Cabinets 
contains  some  documents  not  before  published.  Also  Reers's 
Friede  von  Aachen.  The  Due  de  Broglie's  Paix  d' Aix-la-Chapelle 
contains  a  full  and  accurate  account  of  the  congress.  Many  of 
Pelham's  letters  are  found  in  Coxe's  Pelham  Administration. 
The  published  correspondence  of  Chesterfield  is  also  of  interest. 


376  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

enemy  abandon  her  conquests,  and  allow  her  navy  to 
sink  into  a  condition  which  insured  England's  success 
in  future  contests ;  France  gained  nothing  in  strength 
or  glory  by  the  peace  of  Aix-larChapelle.  "  As  stupid 
as  the  peace  "  became  a  familiar  saying  at  Paris,  and 
expressed  the  judgment  of  the  French  peojjle. 

An  incident  of  no  great  importance  increased  the 
apparent  humiliation  of  this  treaty  in  the  eyes  of  the 
French.  One  of  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht 
had  been  renewed,  and  the  French  bound  themselves 
to  expel  from  their  boundaries  any  member  of  the 
Pretender's  family.  Charles  Edward  was  then  in 
Paris,  fresh  from  his  romantic  achievements  in  Scot- 
land ;  dissipation  had  not  yet  made  him  contemptible, 
and  a  young  prince,  brave,  handsome,  and  unfortunate, 
excited  the  admiration  of  the  people  and  was  sure  of 
their  sympathy.  The  order  was  given  him  to  leave 
France,  but  Charles  Edward  believed  that  the  govern- 
ment would  not  enforce  an  unpopular  condition,  and 
he  refused  to  obey.  The  French  ministers  were  un- 
willing to  be  trifled  with,  and  the  prince  was  arrested 
as  he  was  entering  the  opera ;  he  struggled  to  escape, 
and  was  put  forcibly  in  a  carriage,  his  arms  were  tied, 
—  it  was  said  indeed  they  were  bound  with  a  silken 
cord,  —  and  he  was  thus  conveyed  to  Vincennes.  There 
he  remained  in  close  confinement  until,  weary  of  prison 
life,  he  consented  to  leave  the  country.^  Good  faith 
required  this  action  by  the  ministry,  but  the  expul- 
sion of  an  unfortunate  prince  at  the  dictation  of  a 
foreign  power  did  not  appeal  to  the  popular  imagina- 
tion nor  excite  popular  pride.  During  the  scuffle,  a 
servant  of  the  Princess  of  Talmont,  the  mistress  of 

*  See  Journal  de  Barbier  for  1748,  and  Mem.  cfArgensorf,  Menu 
de  Luynes. 


CLOSE  OF  THE   WAR.  377 

Charles  Edward,  had  been  taken  into  custody,  and 
with  pleasing  impertinence  she  wrote  to  one  of  the 
ministers :  "  The  arrest  of  the  prince  gives  the  final 
lustre  to  the  king's  laurels,  but  as  the  imprisonment 
of  my  lackey  will  add  nothing  to  them,  be  good 
enough  to  order  his  release." 

As  the  only  reward  for  French  sacrifices  and  victo- 
ries, the  son  of  an  infirm  descendant  of  Louis  XIV. 
became  Duke  of  Parma,  and  took  his  place  among  the 
petty  Italian  sovereigns.  For  half  a  century  the 
dukes  of  Parma  were  counted  among  Bourbon  princes, 
but  it  would  be  impossible  to  state  any  advantage,  po- 
litical or  commercial,  which  France  derived  from  their 
rule ;  the  son-in-law  of  Louis  XV.  was  a  petty  sover- 
eign holding  his  court  at  Parma,  instead  of  a  Spanish 
prince  residing  at  Madrid ;  to  the  French  nation  this 
was  of  no  more  importance  than  the  conquests  in  Asia 
of  Nadir  Shah.  In  1796,  the  soldiers  of  the  French 
republic  captured  Parma,  its  duke  was  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  a  nominal  sovereign,  and  this  was  the 
end  of  the  establishment  of  a  Bourbon  prince,  to  obtain 
which  France  had  sacrificed  thousands  of  lives  and 
wasted  millions  of  money. 

Frederick  the  Great  has  given  his  opinion  as  to  the 
condition  in  which  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  left 
the  combatants.  "  This  pacification,"  he  wrote,  "  re- 
sembled rather  a  truce,  in  which  all  the  parties  profited 
by  a  moment  of  repose  to  seek  new  alliances,  in  order 
to  be  in  better  condition  again  to  take  up  arms." 

There  were  many  indications  by  which  one  coidd 
foresee  the  nature  of  those  new  combinations.  We 
have  already  spoken  of  the  rancor  of  Maria  Theresa 
towards  England  and  her  repeated  suggestions  of  a 
close  union  with  France.     The  desires  of  her  great 


,Jr.V^ 


878  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

rival  were  equally  manifest.  During  the  war  Freder- 
ick had  often  shown  a  wish  to  ally  himself  more  closely 
with  England,  and  the  reasons  for  this  were  apparent 
even  to  his  enemies.  "  His  natural  interest,"  wrote 
the  Saxon  chief  minister  in  1746,  "  is  to  attach  himself 
to  the  maritime  powers."  ^  The  same  belief  was  held 
at  Vienna,  and  it  was  held  still  more  firmly  by  Fred- 
erick himself.^  "Wait  till  peace  is  made,"  he  said, 
"  and  I  have  no  longer  any  precautions  to  take  with 
France ;  then  I  shall  be  ready  to  join  in  a  firm  and 
cordial  alliance  with  the  maritime  powers."  "The 
system  of  Europe  is  changed,"  wrote  that  far-sighted 
statesman  eight  years  before  the  outbreak  of  the  next 
great  war.  "  I  shall  soon  be  found  on  good  footing 
with  Great  Britain,  while  there  is  great  lack  of  har- 
mony and  discontent  between  the  queen  of  Hungary 
and  England."  ^  Such  were  the  results  of  the  war  of 
the  Austrian  Succession. 

^  Count  Briihl  to  Maurice  de  Saxe,  April  4,  1746,  published 
in  Geheimnisse  des  Sachischen  Cabinets. 

^  See  letters  of  Tercier  to  Fuisieubc,  1748,  Cor.  cTAix-la- 
Chapelle. 

«  Pol.  Cor.,  vi.  122, 126,  130, 146. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DUPLEIX. 

While  great  armies  marched  and  fought  in  Ger- 
many and  the  Low  Countries  with  small  resiJts,  the 
fate  of  a  country  seven  times  as  large  as  France,  and 
containing  a  population  exceeding  that  of  all  western 
Europe,  was  decided  by  the  obscure  combats  of  a  few 
hundred  men.  In  that  contest  the  French  were 
finally  worsted,  and  like  most  of  the  misfortunes  that 
befell  them  in  the  eighteenth  century,  their  defeat  was 
due  to  the  inefficiency  of  their  government ;  the  list- 
less apathy  of  Louis  XV.  cost  France  an  empire  in 
the  Indies. 

Her  failure  to  hold  her  place  in  India  and  America 
has  been  charged  to  the  French  character  ;  the  French, 
it  is  said,  were  ill  adapted  to  be  colonists,  they  could 
not  deal  with  strange  peoples ;  wedded  to  the  gayety 
of  Parisian  life  or  the  tranquillity  of  provincial  life, 
they  were  not  fitted  for  painful  existence  among  half 
civilized  tribes,  in  distant  lands  and  under  strange 
skies.  The  study  of  French  colonization  in  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries  shows  this  theory  to 
be  the  reverse  of  the  truth.  No  nation  equaled  the 
French  in  the  skill  with  which  they  ingratiated  them- 
selves with  the  native  populations ;  they  were  soon  on 
the  best  of  terms  with  chiefs  of  the  Five  Nations,  and 
with  subahdars  and  nawabs  of  the  Carnatic ;  they 
excited  admiration  and  did  not  arouse  prejudices ; 
in  their  contests  with  the  English,  the  French,  so  long 


380  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

as  they  had  any  prospect  of  success,  usually  had  the 
natives  for  their  allies.  Not  only  did  they  deal  adroitly 
with  peoples  of  a  lower  grade  of  civilization,  but  it 
was  by  French  pioneers  that  plans  were  developed  for 
bringing  under  European  control  the  vast  interior  of 
North  America  and  the  swarming  populations  of  south- 
ern India.  While  La  Salle  and  Tonty  pushed  the  ex- 
ploration and  the  colonization  of  the  Mississippi  valley, 
Dupleix  conceived  the  policy  by  which  Europeans 
could  rule  at  Delhi  and  Aurungabad.  These  great 
schemes  were  carried  into  effect  by  the  English,  but 
this  was  not  the  fault  of  the  Frenchmen  who  repre- 
sented their  country  in  India  and  America.  It  was 
at  Versailles  that  Canada  and  Hindustan  were  lost  to 
France,  and  not  by  the  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence  or 
the  shores  of  the  Indian  Ocean. 

No  'European  government  took  a  more  active  in- 
terest in  the  development  of  colonial  empire  than 
France  in  the  seventeenth  century.  "There  is  no 
country  so  well  situated  as  France,"  wrote  Richelieu, 
"  none  so  well  provided  with  all  that  is  required  to 
make  her  mistress  of  the  seas."  ^  The  cardinal  gave 
much  attention  to  strengthening  the  navy  and  to  or- 
ganizing commercial  companies,  and,  in  1642,  a  char- 
ter was  granted  to  the  Company  of  the  Indies.  Little, 
however,  seems  to  have  been  done  towards  the  develop- 
ment of  Eastern  trade ;  the  troubles  of  the  Fronde 
checked  any  business  activity,  and  it  was  not  until 
internal  order  was  established  under  Louis  XIV.  that 
attention  was  again  given  to  foreign  enterprises. 

Colbert  shared  Richelieu's  desire  that  France  should 
become  a  colonial  power,  and  he  devoted  his  untiring 
energy  to  that  end.  Among  his  other  undertakings 
*  Mem.  de  Richelieu,  ed.  Michaud,  zxi.  438. 


DUPLEIX.  381 

was  the  organization  of  a  new  company  of  the  Indies, 
to  which  a  charter  was  granted  in  1664.  The  snccess 
of  the  English  and  Dutch  Companies  in  the  East 
stimulated  Colbert's  desire  that  the  French  should 
share  in  such  gains.  The  new  French  Company  had 
the  full  benefit  of  royal  patronage.  Its  foundation 
was  celebrated  by  Charpentier,  who,  in  well-rounded 
phrases,  told  of  the  glories  of  the  East  and  of  the 
wealth  in  store  for  those  who  traded  there.  Favored 
by  the  king,  launched  with  academical  orations,  and 
receiving  the  constant  attention  of  the  ministry,  yet, 
perhaps,  as  a  result  of  this  illustrious  protection,  the 
company  lacked  the  spirit  of  individual  enterprise ; 
its  members  never  learned  to  rely  on  their  own  ef- 
forts because  it  was  so  easy  to  ask  aid  from  the 
government. 

The  king  subscribed  largely  to  its  stock,  and  strong 
pressure  was  exercised  to  induce  others  to  follow  his 
example.  The  courtier  who  wished  to  please,  the  offi- 
cial who  hoped  for  promotion,  did  well  to  have  his 
name  appear  among  the  subscribers  for  India  stock. 
Some  of  these  courtly  subscribers  proved  remiss  in 
their  payments,  but  the  company  was  soon  equipped 
for  its  new  enterprise,  and  commenced  a  trade  which 
it  was  to  carry  on  for  more  than  a  century,  and  which, 
if  France  had  been  better  governed,  might  have  re- 
sulted in  the  French  Company  of  the  Indies  becoming 
the  ruler  of  India.  It  was  with  no  thought  of  such  a 
destiny  that  it  was  organized.  The  desire  of  Colbert 
was  to  extend  French  trade  and  to  increase  French 
wealth ;  any  expectation  of  conquering  remote  east- 
ern kingdoms,  whose  population  was  known  to  be 
enormous  and  whose  wealth  was  believed  to  be  bound- 
less, would  have  been  regarded  as  chimerical.     "  You 


382  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

are  to  tave  no  views  in  India,"  said  the  instructions 
to  agents  in  1673,  "  except  commerce ;  consider  only 
what  you  can  buy  cheap  and  sell  dear."  Yet  Colbert 
was  not  unmindful  of  the  extension  of  French  influ- 
ence which  might  result,  and  the  charter  gave  to  the 
company  the  sovereignty  of  all  lands  which  it  should 
conquer,  subject  only  to  the  authority  of  the  king. 

Notwithstanding  the  zealous  aid  which  it  received, 
it  was  long  before  the  operations  of  the  Company  of 
the  Indies  were  of  large  importance.  The  assistance 
of  the  government  was  not  an  unmixed  blessing ;  in 
return  for  aid,  the  company  had  to  submit  to  super- 
vision and  to  the  evils  of  bureaucracy.  It  received  a 
monopoly  of  the  trade  between  India  and  France. 
Such  exclusive  rights  were  granted  to  similar  enter- 
prises in  every  country ;  it  was  an  age  of  privilege ; 
the  spirit  of  monopoly  prevailed  in  every  vocation, 
and  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  free  competition  was  un- 
known. When  the  barbers  of  Paris  were  guarded  by 
law  against  competition,  it  was  not  strange  that  like 
protection  should  be  demanded  for  a  corporation  that 
was  to  carry  on  trade  with  a  distant  part  of  the  world. 
The  monopoly  of  trade  which  the  company  demanded 
and  obtained  proved  injurious  to  its  interests ;  it 
checked  immigration  and  the  development  of  indi- 
vidual enterprises,  which  would  ultimately  have  in- 
creased its  revenues  far  more  than  the  additional  sou 
it  could  demand  for  a  pound  of  spice  or  a  yard  of  cot- 
ton because  it  met  with  no  competitors  in  the  market. 

In  1674,  Pondicherri  was  founded,  about  eighty 
miles  south  of  Madras,  and  it  became  the  chief  port 
of  the  company  in  India.^     But  its  trade  was  small 

*  It  was  in  1G74  that  the  governor,  Francois  Martin,  established 
himself  at  Pondicherri.     It  was  then  an  unimportant  village. 


.    DUPLEIX.  883 

and  its  growth  was  slow.  The  Dutch  held  an  impor- 
tant place  in  the  commerce  with  India,  and  looked  with 
jealousy  upon  any  competitors  ;  in  1693,  they  laid 
siege  to  Pondicherri ;  the  company  was  unable  to  de- 
fend the  town,  and  it  soon  surrendered.  In  1697,  by 
the  treaty  of  Ryswick,  it  was  restored  to  its  former 
owners,  and  the  company  again  began  its  painful 
endeavors  to  earn  dividends  for  its  stockholders  by 
trading  with  the  Indies. 

The  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession  completed  the 
ruin  of  the  enterprise.  In  the  financial  distress  that 
prevailed  at  home  there  was  little  market  for  eastern 
luxuries ;  the  ships  which  ventured  on  the  long  jour- 
ney from  France  to  India  ran  great  risk  of  capture  by 
English  and  Dutch  cruisers ;  the  company  continued 
to  drag  on  a  sickly  existence  which  neither  made  its 
stockholders  richer  nor  France  greater.  In  1719,  the 
corporation  founded  by  Colbert  was  dissolved,  and  its 
property  and  privileges  were  turned  over  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi Company,  then  at  the  height  of  its  power  and 
apparent  prosperity.  This  change  was  of  large  im- 
portance ;  the  Indian  trade  had  long  been  in  the  hands 
of  an  infirm  corporation,  burdened  with  debt,  con- 
ducted without  vigor,  and  administered  without  abil- 
ity ;  the  new  Company  of  the  Indies  had  the  wealth 
of  France  at  its  command,  and  the  energy  of  Law  to 
develop  its  interests  and  its  commerce. 

The  great  increase  of  trade  which  might  have  re- 
sulted was  checked  by  the  bankruptcy  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Company  and  the  failure  of  Law's  system,  but 
the  franchises  of  the  former  Company  of  the  Indies 
were  spared ;  it  contrived  to  carry  on  business,  and  it 
preserved,  as  one  of  the  fruits  of  Law's  management, 
a  monopoly  of  the  sale  of  tobacco,  which  proved  its 


884  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

surest  source  of  income.  Its  trade  with  the  East 
increased  and  assumed  considerable  proportions.  In 
1725,  the  sales  of  eastern  commodities  in  France 
amounted  to  about  eight  million  livres,  and  to  ten 
million  in  1750.  The  sale  of  goods  imported  from 
China  amounted  to  two  million  livres  yearly,  and  in- 
creased under  Dupleix  to  three  million.  The  capital 
of  the  company  exceeded  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
million  livres,  and  during  all  this  period  moderate  divi- 
dends were  paid  upon  the  stock.^ 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  French  Company  of 
the  Indies,  when  a  man  of  bold  and  original  genius 
entered  its  service  and  changed  its  fortunes.  Joseph 
Francois  Dupleix  was  bom  in  1697,  and  was  the  son 
of  a  rich  farmer-general.  When  seventeen  years  old 
he  embarked  on  a  St.  Malo  trading-ship ;  he  made 
several  voyages  to  America  and  India,  and  acquired  a 
taste  for  adventures  in  strange  lands.  In  1720,  his 
father  obtained  for  him  a  position  in  the  employ  of 
the  East  India  Company.  The  father,  though  rich,  was 
penurious ;  he  provided  his  son  with  a  scanty  outfit 
for  such  a  journey,  and  directed  that  no  money  should 
be  wasted  in  buying  fine  linen.  The  future  governor- 
general  of  India  set  sail  with  a  beggarly  assortment 
of  stockings  and  shirts,  but  he  took  with  him  a  bass 
viol,  an  instrument  on  which  he  loved  to  perform,  and 
from  which  he  sought  consolation  during  all  the  vicis- 
situdes that  fortune  had  in  store  for  him. 

Thus  equipped  he  embarked  for  Pondicherri,  and 
commenced  his  career  in  the  Indies.  After  ten  years 
of  assiduous  service  he  was  promoted  to  be  director 
of  Chandamagar,  a  trading-post  of  the  company  in 

*  These  figures  are  given  in  D'Aubigny,  Choiieul  et  la  France 
d'outre  mer,  and  in  the  appendices  of  the  Memoire  pour  Dupleix. 


DUPLEIX.  385 

Bengal,  and  there  he  had  an  opportunity  to  exhibit 
his  talents  as  an  administrator.  Chaudaruagar  was 
a  sleepy  and  unimportant  place ;  three  times  a  year 
a  ship  arrived  from  Europe,  and  occasionally  some 
caravan  from  the  interior  awakened  it  into  temporary 
animation.  "  What  I  am  expected  to  do,"  wrote  Du- 
pleix,  "  is  to  reestablish  a  colony  which  lacks  every- 
thing, and  from  which  indolence  and  poverty  have 
banished  commerce."  But  however  unpromising  the 
field,  the  new  director  was  equal  to  the  task.  Like 
other  agents  of  the  company,  Dupleix  had  traded  ac- 
tively on  his  own  account,  and  his  good  judgment  had 
rendered  these  ventures  largely  profitable.  He  now 
devoted  to  the  development  of  Chandarnagar  his  for- 
tune and  his  genius.  The  boats  of  the  company  en- 
gaged only  in  voyages  between  France  and  India ;  but 
Dupleix  saw  a  large  field  in  the  trade  that  could  be 
carried  on  between  India  and  the  rest  of  Asia.  Soon 
seventy-two  vessels  were  employed  in  carrying  and 
exchanging  wares  from  China  to  the  Arabian  Gulf, 
while,  in  the  interior,  commercial  relations  were  ex- 
tended as  far  as  Thibet.  This  increase  in  commerce 
made  Chandarnagar  one  of  the  most  important  Euro- 
pean posts  in  the  East.  In  1740,  it  had  six  thousand 
houses  and  a  population  of  thirty  thousand  people ; 
land  sold  at  high  prices,  two  thousand  artisans  were 
employed  in  making  linen  cloths,  there  were  numerous 
churches,  mosques,  and  pagodas  for  the  spiritual  needs 
of  the  motley  population.  In  this  rapid  development 
of  business,  Dupleix  gained  the  favor  of  his  superiors 
by  the  only  services  they  could  appreciate,  a  steady 
increase  in  the  revenues  of  the  company.  In  1740, 
they  manifested  their  approval  by  appointing  him 
governor-general  in  India. 


386  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

This  transferred  him  to  Pondieherri,  and  the  citi^ 
zens  of  Chandarnagar  were  in  despair ;  the  prosperity 
which  had  come  so  rapidly  they  knew  was  the  work 
of  Dupleix,  and  if  he  were  removed,  they  feared  a  re- 
turn to  the  commercial  stagnation  that  had  so  long 
been  their  lot. 

It  was  only  by  promising  to  remain  with  them  for 
a  few  months  longer  that  Dupleix  could  in  any  degree 
console  their  grief,  and  during  that  time  he  married  a 
woman  who  proved  of  singular  service  in  the  projects 
he  was  soon  to  undertake.  His  wife  belonged  to  a 
family  of  Portuguese  Creoles ;  she  was  of  great  beauty, 
and  of  equal  intelligence  and  ambition.  Bom  in 
India,  she  was  familiar  with  the  languages  and  even 
the  dialects  of  the  country ;  she  could  communicate 
with  rajahs  and  nawabs  in  their  own  tongue,  and  in 
the  style  and  with  the  metaphors  which  were  dear  to 
the  eastern  heart.  While  Dupleix  was  governor- 
general,  his  wife  might  have  been  regarded  as  his  min- 
ister for  foreign  affairs,  and  he  could  have  found  no 
one  better  fitted  for  the  place.  Jan  Begum,  the  Prin- 
cess Jeanne,  became  as  well  known  to  the  courts  of 
Delhi  and  Hyderabad  as  Dupleix  himself. 

In  January,  1742,  the  new  governor-general  left  his 
disconsolate  Chandarnagarians,  and  went  to  Pondi- 
eherri, the  capital  of  French  India,  there  to  assume  the 
duties  of  his  office.^  Most  of  his  predecessors  had  been 
content  if  they  could  report  that  the  commerce  of  the 
company  showed  no  decline,  but  the  years  Dupleix 
had  spent  in  the  East  convinced  him  that  there  was 
an  opportunity  for  France  of  infinitely  more  impor- 
tance than  shipping  a  few  more  pounds  of  spice  to 
Paris,  or  selling  a  few  more  knives  and  bales  of  cloth 
'  Journal  of  Rangappoulle,  15. 


DUPLEIX.  387 

to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Carnatic.^  In  a  high  degree 
Dupleix  possessed  the  rarest  quality  of  genius,  the 
faculty  of  conceiving  what  is  new  to  human  experi- 
ence, of  devising  schemes  of  polity  and  of  government 
for  which  liistory  can  afford  no  precedent.  To  his 
contemporaries  the  empire  of  the  Great  Mogul  seemed 
a  stupendous  power ;  Dupleix  first  realized  that  it  was 
possible  for  a  handful  of  Europeans  to  control  its 
destinies.  While  others  talked  with  bated  breath  of 
the  rulers  of  Delhi  and  Arcot  and  Moorshedabad,  of 
the  thousands  of  men  who  formed  their  armies,  of  the 
millions  of  money  which  filled  their  treasuries,  he  saw 
that  a  few  hundred  European  soldiers,  with  a  fit  man 
to  lead  them,  coidd  scatter  those  great  armies  and 
administer  those  well-filled  treasuries.  Not  only  did 
the  distracted  condition  of  the  Indian  empire  and  the 
imbecility  of  its  rulers  render  possible  the  ascendency 
of  a  race  of  higher  intelligence  and  higher  civilization, 
but  no  western  nation  was  better  prepared  than  France 
to  extend  its  authority  over  those  vast  regions.  The 
influence  of  Portugal  and  Holland  in  the  East  had 
waned  with  the  decline  of  their  power  in  Europe,  and 
they  were  in  no  condition  to  increase  it.  The  English 
East  India  Company  had  been  longer  in  the  field, 
and,  as  a  commercial  enterprise,  had  been  more  suc- 
cessful than  its  French  rival,  but  the  directors  in  Lon- 
don, like  those  in  Paris,  were  dreaming  of  dividends 
and  not  of  conquests ;  they  had  as  yet  no  thouglit  of 
replacing  trading-posts  by  subject  principalities.  The 
possessions  of  the  French  in  India  were  not  inferior 
in  importance  or  in  the  advantages  of  their  situation 
Vo  those  then  held   by  the  English.      Above  all,  in 

'   It  is  just  to  say  tliat  Diipleix's  iinnicdiatc  predecessor,  Del 
u>as,  had  eonsideiably  increased  Fieuch  iuHucnce  in  the  Caruatic. 


388  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Dupleix  himself,  the  French  had  a  man  who  in  his 
knowledge  of  eastern  character,  in  his  ability  to  con- 
trol eastern  potentates,  and  in  his  conception  of  a 
wise  eastern  policy,  was  equaled  by  no  other  European. 
The  first  enterprise  which  he  undertook  was  to 
convert  Pondicherri  into  a  well-fortified  town,  that 
should  no  longer  be  defenseless  if  some  neighboring 
prince  or  the  British  authorities  saw  fit  to  attack  it. 
Work  had  hardly  begun  when  the  news  reached  India 
that  the  war  of  the  Austrian  Succession  had  com- 
menced. The  contest  which  was  rapidly  involving  all 
Europe  would  probably  extend  to  the  distant  shores 
of  India,  and  if  the  French  were  to  maintain  their 
position  in  the  East,  they  needed  soldiers  by  the  banks 
of  the  Ganges  as  well  as  by  the  Rhine  or  the  Danube. 
But  the  possibility  of  a  conflict,  in  which  their  posts 
might  be  destroyed  and  their  ships  be  burned,  terri- 
fied the  directors  of  the  India  Company  out  of  their 
wits  ;  they  wrote  Dupleix  to  suspend  all  work  on  the 
fortifications,  and  to  reduce  his  expenses  by  at  least 
one  half.^  On  this  occasion,  as  on  many  other  occa- 
sions, the  governor-general  declined  to  adopt  the  nar- 
row views  of  his  employers,  and  supplied  from  his  own 
pocket  the  money  which  the  company  was  unable  to 
furnish.  He  now  advanced  half  a  million  livres  and 
completed  the  fortifications  of  the  town.  The  direc- 
tors were  not  disturbed  by  this  disobedience  to-their 
orders ;  the  fact  that  they  were  not  asked  to  raise 
money  for  the  work  reconciled  them  to  its  accomplish- 
ment, and  in  due  time  they  wrote  that  the  prompt 
completion  of  the  fortifications  of  Pondicherri  had 
given  them  much  pleasure.^     So  fluctuating  were  the 

1  Letter  of  September  18,  1743. 

2  Letter  of  Noveuiber  30,  1740. 


DUPLEIX.  389 

counsels  of  the  company  at  Paris  that  the  directors 
were  as  apt  to  commend  disobedience  as  obedience, 
and  their  representatives  naturally  respected  their 
orders  just  so  far  as  they  agreed  with  their  own 
views. 

In  the  mean  time  the  war  had  actually  reached 
India,  and  the  governor  of  Madras  threatened  to  be- 
siege Pondicherri.  Dupleix  had  long  before  written 
for  reinforcements,  but  none  had  been  sent ;  deserted 
by  his  government,  he  endeavored  to  use  his  influence 
in  India  to  protect  the  interests  of  France.  With  few 
exceptions  the  native  rulers  were  more  friendly  to- 
wards the  French  than  towards  their  English  rivals, 
and  Dupleix  had  in  a  marked  degree  won  their  con- 
fidence. He  now  turned  to  the  nawab  of  the  Car- 
natic  and  asked  him  for  aid  against  any  attack  by  the 
English  company.  "  I  am  myself,"  wrote  Dupleix, 
"  an  officer  and  a  vassal  of  the  Great  Mogul,  and  will 
you  allow  the  English  to  drive  me  from  India  ?  "  The 
nawab  responded  to  this  appeal,  and  forbade  any  at- 
tack upon  Pondicherri ;  the  English  were  in  no  posi- 
tion to  defy  the  native  authorities,  and  did  not  venture 
to  proceed  in  violation  of  their  orders. 

The  situation  was  still  full  of  peril,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  impress  native  rulers  with  the  power 
of  France,  if  her  representatives  were  obliged  to  ask 
their  aid  to  escape  annihilation  by  the  English.  "  If 
we  do  not  receive  succor  during  the  course  of  this 
year,"  Dupleix  wrote  in  1746,  "  the  company  may  re- 
gard its  establishments  in  India  as  lost.  One  year 
will  destroy  the  fruits  of  a  quarter  of  a  century." 

\i  last  tlie  government  consented  to  take  some 
steps  to  preserve  its  eastern  colonies.  Tlu;  number 
of  troops  sent  was  small  in  comparison  with  the  thou- 


390  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

sands  of  lives  and  the  millions  of  money  that  were 
wasted  to  obtain  the  imperial  crown  for  the  Elector  of 
Bavaria,  but  if  Dupleix  had  been  allowed  to  control 
its  use,  even  a  small  force  might  have  changed  the 
future  of  India.  On  the  8th  of  July,  1746,  a  fleet  of 
nine  ships  and  some  three  thousand  men  anchored  in 
the  bay  of  Pondicherri,  after  an  obstinate  conflict 
with  the  English  squadron,  which  had  endeavored  to 
repel  them.  La  Bourdonnais,  to  whom  the  command 
of  the  fleet  was  intrusted,  was  an  officer  of  energy  and 
distinction  ;  he  had  gained  laurels  both  on  sea  and 
land,  and  he  had  rendered  valuable  service  as  governor 
of  the  Isle  of  France.  But  the  government,  which 
had  at  last  given  some  aid  to  its  Indian  possessions, 
had  done  much  to  neutralize  its  value.  The  fleet  was 
sent  to  assist  Dupleix,  but  its  movements  were  to  be 
decided  by  La  Bourdonnais ;  the  instructions  were 
conflicting  and  ambiguous;  they  had  been  prepared 
years  before,  and  apparently  forbade  the  capture  of 
any  establishment  of  the  English,  with  the  purpose  of 
adding  it  to  the  French  possessions.^ 

The  relations  between  Dupleix  and  La  Bourdonnais 
soon  became  far  from  cordial,  and  the  fault  seems  to 
have  been  with  the  latter.^  Dupleix  and  the  council 
at  Pondicherri  were  agreed  that  the  great  object  to  be 
attained  was  the  conquest  of  Madras  and  the  over- 
throw of  the  British  power  on  the  Coromandel  coast. 
It  was  difficidt  to  see  why  the  fleet  should  have  come 
at  all,  unless  it  were  to  assure  the  ascendency  of  the 

'  Instructions  k  M.  La  Bourdonnais,  signed  by  Orry, 
2  In  his  correspondence  with  La  Bourdonnais,  Dupleix  always 
treated  him  with  great  courtesy  and  consideration,  and  it  is  hard 
to  believe  that  his  conduct  was  as  overbearing  as  was  afterwards 
charged. 


DUPLE  IX.  391 

French,  and  to  secure  them  against  future  attacks 
from  their  English  rivals.  But  whether  from  pique, 
or  from  indecision,  or  from  timidity,  La  Bourdonnais 
delayed  and  vacillated  and  did  nothing.  The  last  of 
August  arrived,  and  he  then  began  to  say  that  the 
fleet  must  speedily  return  in  order  to  escape  the  dan- 
ger of  encountering  a  monsoon  on  the  Indian  coast. 
Not  until  September,  after  repeated  appeals  from 
Dupleix  and  orders  from  the  council,  was  the  siege  of 
Madras  at  last  undertaken.  It  proved  an  easy  enter- 
prise ;  the  English  had  few  soldiers,  and  the  town 
was  ill  fortified;  after  a  siege  of  six  days,  Madras 
surrendered. 

The  capture  of  the  capital  of  the  British  possessions 
in  India  produced  a  profound  impression  ;  the  power 
of  the  rivals  of  France  on  the  Coromandel  coast 
seemed  overthrown ;  the  way  was  clear  for  obtaining 
that  ascendency  over  the  native  rulers  which  was  the 
object  of  Dupleix's  policy. 

But  the  fruits  of  the  victory  were  not  what  he 
iioped ;  Madras,  which  might  have  secured  the  preem- 
inence of  France  in  the  Camatic,  was  nearly  wrested 
from  him  by  the  strange  conduct  of  the  French  admi- 
ral, and  was  at  last  surrendered  with  indifference  by 
the  authorities  at  Versailles.  The  surrender  of  Madras 
to  La  Bourdonnais  had  been  unconditional.^  On  the 
day  that  he  entered  the  city  he  wrote  Dupleix,  "  I 
have  the  English  at  my  discretion."    There  were  three 

^  The  articles  of  the  capitulation  show  this.  They  contain  r< 
provision  that  if  a  ransom  of  the  city  should  be  agreed  upon, 
then  the  prisoners  of  war  might  serve  against  the  natives,  etc. 
There  was  no  article  which  provided  that  the  city  should  be 
ransomed.  Colonel  Malleson,  the  best  English  authority,  proves 
that  the  reproach  so  constantly  made  against  Dupleix  of  acting 
in  bad  faith  is  without  foimdation. 


892  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

courses,  he  said,  that  might  be  pursued :  the  city 
could  be  destroj'ed,  it  could  be  made  a  French  colony, 
or  it  could  be  ransomed.^  There  liad  been  talk  of 
ransoming  the  city,  and  this  La  Bourdonnais  now 
recommended.  Such  a  measure  was  directly  contraiy 
to  the  interests  of  France ;  it  converted  a  conquest 
which  might  assure  French  ascendency  into  a  mere 
buccaneering  expedition,  it  left  the  English  power 
unimpaired,  and  the  proposed  ransom  was  not  even 
sure  to  be  paid,  for  the  governor  of  Madras  had  no 
money,  and  could  only  give  bills  running  through 
years,  the  acceptance  and  payment  of  which  by  the 
English  authorities  might  well  be  doubted.  No  sooner 
had  La  Bourdonnais  announced  his  purpose,  than 
Dupleix  remonstrated  with  all  the  vigor  of  which  he 
was  capable.  "  In  the  name  of  God,  of  your  children 
and  your  wife,"  he  wrote,  "be  persuaded  by  what  I 
say.  Spare  not  an  enemy  who  has  no  purpose  but 
to  reduce  us  to  extremity.  Profit  by  this  victory  for 
the  glory  of  your  king  and  for  the  interests  of  the 
nation."  ^ 

To  such  remonstrances  was  added  a  formal  notice 
from  the  council  of  Pondicherri  that  a  capitulation  on 
the  terms  now  proposed  would  not  be  ratified.^  But 
this  opposition  only  served  to  strengthen  La  Bourdon- 
nais in  his  purpose.  He  had  captured  the  city,  he 
replied,  and  he  had  the  right  to  fix  the  terms  on  which 
it  could  be  ransomed ;  he  had  given  his  word  to  the 
English  and  must  keep  it,  and  he  would  not  be  dic- 
tated to  by  the  civilians  of  Pondicherri.*     A  delega- 

1  Letter  of  September  23,  1746. 

^  Dupleix  to  La  Bourdonnais,  September  29,  1746. 

«  Letter  of  September  28,  1746. 

*  Letter  to  Dupleix,  October  1,  1746. 


DUPLEIX.  393 

tion  was  sent  from  that  city  to  forbid  his  ransoming 
Madras,  and  he  ordered  them  to  be  shut  up  in  jail. 
In  violation  of  all  remonstrances,  and  a  month  after 
the  city  had  surrendered,  he  signed  a  formal  capitula- 
tion by  which  Madras  was  to  be  given  back  to  the 
English  in  the  January  following,  and  he  received 
bills  from  its  governor  for  four  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  which  was  the  sum  agreed  upon  for  the 
ransom  of  the  town.  The  French  authorities  had 
given  notice  that  they  woidd  not  respect  this  capitu- 
lation, and  they  did  not.  It  is  hard  to  see  how  they 
can  be  charged  with  bad  faith,  when  their  quarrel 
with  La  Bourdonnais  was  a  public  scandal,  and  every 
white  man  in  Madras  knew  that  the  French  com- 
mander was  proceeding  in  violation  of  their  orders.^ 
To  a  large  extent,  the  conduct  of  La  Bourdonnais 
in  disregarding  advice  to  which  he  should  have  lis- 
tened, and  in  violating  orders  which  he  should  have 
obeyed,  was  due  to  caprice  and  impatience  of  control ; 
but  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  it  was  also  influenced  by 
more  corrupt  motives.  He  himself  was  to  receive  a 
present  of  forty  thousand  pounds,  and  some  or  all  of 
this  sum  was  paid  to  him.^  Such  gifts  were  often 
bestowed  on  successful  warriors  in  India.  It  is  possi- 
ble that  if  La  Bourdonnais  had  no  personal  interest, 

^  La  Bourdonuais's  account  of  this  affair  is  found  in  his 
memoirs. 

^  The  evidence  establishing  this  fact  seems  beyond  question. 
The  most  convincing,  perhaps,  is  given  by  Malleson  in  his  valu- 
able work,  The  French  in  India,  and  he  regards  the  charge  as 
established.  If  any  faith  can  be  put  in  the  testimony  of  witnesses 
preserved  at  Pondicherri,  they  confirm  the  authorities  cited  by 
Colonel  Malleson.  La  Bourdonnais  denied  that  he  received  any 
money,  but  his  denial  cannot  be  considered  as  disposing  of  tho 
charge. 


394  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

he  would  still  have  thought  it  wiser  to  accept  a  ransom 
than  to  endeavor  to  hold  Madras ;  but  until  human 
nature  changes,  the  man  who  has  a  great  pecuniary 
interest  in  a  certain  policy  will  be  specially  alert  in 
discovering  its  advantages  for  the  public. 

There  was  now  an  open  quarrel  between  the  French 
authorities  and  their  officer.  "  This  is  the  capitula- 
tion I  have  signed,"  said  La  Bourdonnais ;  "  it  is  for 
you  to  carry  it  out."  "  It  was  made  without  author- 
ity," they  replied,  "  and  we  will  not  execute  it." 
Eight  days  after  signing  the  capitulation.  La  Bour- 
donnais gathered  together  his  ships  and  sailed  away 
from  India  in  a  rage,  leaving  Dupleix  to  his  fate. 
With  the  exception  of  two  small  detachments,  amount- 
ing in  all  to  about  five  hundred  men,  the  governor- 
general  received  no  more  help  from  France  during 
the  war  of  the  Austrian  Succession. 

He  was  soon  obliged  to  make  the  utmost  use  of  the 
scanty  resources  at  his  command.  To  avert  the  hos- 
tility of  the  Nawab  of  the  Camatic,  Dupleix  had 
promised  that  Madras  should  be  turned  over  to  him. 
It  was  a  promise  which  he  felt  in  no  haste  to  execute, 
and,  at  all  events,  he  resolved  to  destroy  the  fortifica- 
tions of  the  place  before  he  surrendered  it,  even  to  a 
friendly  prince.  But  the  nawab  wanted  Madras  for- 
tified and  he  wanted  it  at  once,  and  without  more 
delay  he  laid  siege  to  the  city.  This  act  of  hostility, 
Dupleix  thought,  relieved  him  from  his  promise,  and 
he  resolved  to  brave  the  power  of  the  ruler  of  the 
Camatic. 

Though  the  great  western  companies  had  been  trad- 
ing in  India  for  a  century  and  a  half,  there  liad  been 
few  encounters  in  the  field  of  battle  between  European 
and  Indian  soldiers.     The  companies  had  been  there 


DUPLEIX.  395 

as  merchants,  they  had  avoided  hostilities  with  the 
native  princes,  they  had  taken  no  part  in  the  internal 
dissensions  of  the  country.  The  enormous  difference 
that  existed  between  disciplined  troops  and  these  un- 
wieldy hordes  of  Asiatic  warriors  was  first  shown  in 
the  battles  between  the  French  soldiery  of  Dupleix 
and  the  forces  of  Anwarooden. 

The  governor-general  had  instituted  a  system  by 
which  some  assistance  could  be  furnished  the  few 
hundred  European  soldiers  sent  out  by  the  company 
and  the  government.  Though  undisciplined  Indians 
were  of  little  avail  against  the  troops  and  arms  of  the 
West,  yet  these  same  men,  subjected  to  regular  drill, 
taught  to  use  firearms  with  precision,  and  to  recog- 
nize the  authority  of  trained  officers,  might  possess  a 
steadiness  and  an  efficiency  in  the  field  unknown  to 
the  masses  of  their  countrymen,  whose  only  idea  of 
a  battle  was  a  disorderly  charge,  usually  followed  by 
a  precipitate  flight.  Accordingly,  Dupleix  gave  con- 
stant attention  to  the  organization  and  discipline  of 
bodies  of  native  troops.  The  results  repaid  his  efforts. 
The  sepoys,  as  they  were  called,  soon  became  soldiers 
not  very  inferior  to  their  European  associates. 

The  entire  force  which  Dupleix  could  command  was 
not  over  one  thousand  European  soldiers  and  two 
thousand  sepoys,  and  of  these  only  one  thousand  were 
stationed  at  Madras,  while  the  nawab  at  once  sent  an 
army  of  ten  thousand  men  to  besiege  the  city.  For 
the  first  time  the  military  systems  of  India  and  of  the 
West  were  to  meet  in  serious  contest,  and  the  result 
showed  the  immeasurable  superiority  of  the  latter. 
The  besiegers  endeavored  to  cut  off  the  water  supply 
of  Madras,  and  the  French,  four  hundred  strong,  with 
two  cannon,  marched  against  them.     A  great  body  of 


396  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUTS  XV. 

native  cavalry  advanced,  intending  to  overwhelm  their 
opponents  by  numbers.  The  French  opened  fire  with 
their  cannon,  and  the  rapidity  and  the  accuracy  of  the 
discharge  threw  the  natives  into  confusion  ;  the  great 
body  of  cavalry  hesitated  and,  at  the  fourth  discharge, 
broke  in  confusion;  the  victory  of  the  French  was 
won  without  the  loss  of  a  man.^ 

A  more  decisive  encounter  soon  followed.  A  force 
of  some  six  hundred  French  and  sepoys  advanced  to 
the  relief  of  Madras,  under  the  command  of  an  engi- 
neer named  Paradis.  He  was  a  bold  and  skillful 
officer,  and  the  men  had  unbounded  confidence  in 
him.  On  the  4th  of  November,  1746,  they  reached  the 
army  of  the  nawab,  ten  thousand  strong,  drawn  up 
on  the  bank  of  a  river  near  St.  Thome,  and  provided 
with  a  few  cannon.  The  native  artillerymen  deemed 
themselves  expert  when  they  could  discharge  a  cannon 
once  in  fifteen  minutes,  and  Paradis  resolved  to  attack 
them  without  delay.  "  Hell  or  Paradise !  "  shouted 
the  men,  as  they  forded  the  river  and  charged  an  army 
twenty  times  larger  than  their  own.  A  well-directed 
volley  broke  the  Indian  ranks,  and  they  fell  back  as 
the  French  advanced.  Their  pursuers  followed,  the 
fugitives  were  huddled  together  in  confusion,  and  the 
French  poured  voUey  after  volley  into  the  thick 
masses  of  men.  The  victory  became  a  slaughter ;  the 
defeated  general  fled,  tearing  his  garments  in  his 
distress;  after  a  few  hours  nothing  remained  of  his 
army  but  scattered  fugitives. 

The  war  was  ended,  the  army  of  the  nawab  anni- 
hilated, and  the  French  had  not  lost  fifty  men.  The 
completeness  of  the  victory  was,  perhaps,  a  revelation 
to  Dupleix  himself,  and  it  carried  consternation  to  the 
*  Relation  de  Dupleix. 


DUPLEIX.  397 

heart  of  every  native  ruler  in  India.  French  soldiers 
seemed  to  them  as  terrible  as  did  those  of  Cortes  to 
the  followers  of  Montezuma.  They  had  regarded  the 
French  as  merchants,  trading  by  their  sufferance ;  a 
few  years  before,  when  these  foreigners  had  sought  to 
obtain  the  good  will  of  some  nawab  or  subahdar,  he 
gazed  contemptuously  on  their  offerings  and  did  not  \ 
deign  to  answer  their  compliments.^  They  now  dis- 
covered that  France  was  a  power  whose  hostility  was 
too  dangerous  to  be  encountered,  and  whose  friendship 
could  secure  success  against  any  rivals.  The  victory 
of  St.  Thome  prepared  the  way  for  the  intervention 
of  western  nations  in  the  internal  affairs  of  India, 
which  might  have  made  that  country  a  tributary  of 
France  and  did  make  it  a  tributary  of  Great  Britain. 
Victorious  over  the  nawab,  Dupleix  resolved  to  at- 
tack Fort  St.  David,  the  last  post  of  any  importance 
which  the  English  held  in  the  Carnatic.  He  had  now 
an  advantage  in  numbers,  he  had  the  prestige  of  suc- 
cess, and  if  the  native  princes  took  any  part,  they 
would  be  sure  to  enlist  in  the  cause  which  seemed  the 
stronger.  But  the  rules  of  seniority  gave  the  com- 
mand of  the  French  army  besieging  Fort  St.  David 
to  a  general  who  was  infirm  and  incomj^etent.  The 
siege  was  unsuccessful,  subsequent  attacks  were  equally 
unfortunate,  and  suddenly  the  whole  aspect  of  affairs 
was  changed  by  the  arrival  of  an  English  fleet.  The 
government  of  George  II.  did  not  view  its  foreign  pos- 
sessions with  the  indifference  of  Louis  XV.,  and  the 
largest  fleet  which  had  been  seen  on  the  Indian  Sea 
now  appeared,  with  instructions  to  capture  Pondi- 
cherri  and  overthrow  French  ascendency  in  the  Car- 
natic. In  September,  1748,  the  siege  of  Pondicherri 
*  Mem,  pour  Dupleix,  56,  aud  letter  of  Bussy. 


398  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

began,  and  success  seemed  assured ;  only  the  indomit- 
able energy  of  the  French  governor  saved  the  town. 
Paradis,  his  ablest  officer,  was  mortally  wounded,  and 
an  explosion  of  gunpowder  killed  or  disabled  a  hundred 
of  the  little  garrison  and  compelled  the  abandonment 
of  part  of  the  defenses.  Provisions  were  scanty,  the 
soldiers  were  worn  out,  the  natives  were  terrified  by 
the  dangers  of  the  siege,  and  thought  the  end  had 
come  whenever  a  shell  burst  among  them.  But  Du- 
pleix  and  Jan  Begum  excited  the  defenders  of  the 
town  to  an  heroic  resistance ;  the  English  commander 
displayed  little  military  skill,  the  autumn  rains  came 
on,  the  season  for  the  monsoon  had  arrived,  and  on 
the  17th  of  October  the  siege  was  raised  .^  The  na- 
tive rulers,  who  for  a  while  had  hesitated  which 
cause  to  espouse,  were  again  convinced  that  the  French 
were  too  powerful  for  their  adversaries.  No  man 
knew  better  than  Dupleix  how  to  utilize  the  moral 
effects  of  such  a  victory;  special  messengers  were 
sent  at  once  to  the  most  powerful  Indian  princes  to 
announce  that  the  English  had  been  unable  to  capture 
Pondicherri ;  the  princes  replied  with  costly  presents, 
and  with  the  bestowal  of  sounding  titles  upon  the 
invincible  Frenchman. 

While  Dupleix  was  receiving  letters  of  congratula- 
tion from  the  Nawab  of  Arcot,  the  Nizam  of  Hydera- 
bad, and  the  Emperor  of  Delhi,  the  fatal  intelligence 
came  that  his  own  government  had  thrown  away  his 

^  Relation  du  siege,  Journal  of  RangappouUe.  This  journal, 
kept  by  a  native  of  Pondicherri  in  Tamoul,  contains  much  that 
is  curious.  It  is  bitterly  hostile  to  Mme.  Dupleix,  but  the 
complaints  are  evidently  colored  by  religious  prejudices  and 
some  personal  grievances.  For  Dupleix  the  writer  expresses 
the  admiration  which  the  governor  always  excited  among  the 
nativeB. 


DUPLEIX.  399 

conquests  and  done  all  in  its  power  to  check  the  grow- 
ing ascendency  of  France  in  the  East  Indies.  In  the 
treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  Louis  XV.  verified  his  fa- 
mous assertion  that  he  did  not  make  peace  as  a  mer- 
chant but  as  a  king.  Nothing  certainly  could  have 
been  more  courteous  than  his  conduct  towards  other 
nations,  and  nothing  could  have  been  more  foolish. 
The  victories  which  Maurice  de  Saxe  had  won  in 
Flanders  well  entitled  the  French  to  demand  some 
compensation  for  seven  years  of  warfare ;  they  asked 
nothing  and  they  got  nothing.  It  is  doubtful  if  the 
English  would  have  been  strenuous  for. the  restora- 
tion of  Madras,  because  the  importance  of  these  east- 
ern possessions  was  then  realized  by  no  one  except 
Dupleix.  But  the  French  ministers  at  once  consented 
to  its  surrender.  They  were  so  eager  to  abandon  any 
advantages  that  had  been  won,  that  Dupleix  was  or- 
dered to  deliver  everything  captured  from  the  English 
without  waiting  for  them  to  evacuate  any  French  terri- 
tory they  held.  There  was  indeed  little  for  them  to 
give  up.^ 

The  surrender  of  Madras  was  a  bitter  disappoint- 
ment for  Dupleix,  and  it  was  perhaps  a  fatal  blow  to 
the  success  of  his  projects.  The  English  were  again 
reestablished  in  the  Carnatic ;  they  were  restored  to  a 
position  where  they  could  o])pose  with  equal  forces 
any  aggrandizement  of  the  French.  Moreover  the 
surrender  of  Madras  was  regarded  by  the  native  au- 
thorities as  a  }>ro()f  that  in  Europe  the  English  were 
stronger  than  the  French  ;  these  untutored  potentates 
could  not  comprehend  the  principles  which  led  Louis 
XV.  to  regard  territorial  gains  with  polite  indiffer- 
ence ;  they  reasoned  that  if  tlie  French  gave  up  Ma- 
>  Letter  of  October  22,  1748. 


400  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

dras,  it  was  because  they  were  not  strong  enough  to 
hold  it.  Dupleix  had  to  begin  his  schemes  anew  for 
the  extension  of  French  influence,  yet  with  such  saga- 
city did  he  pursue  them  that  their  final  failure  was 
due  not  to  him  but  to  his  government. 

The  battle  of  St.  Thome  had  shown  the  immeasura- 
ble superiority  of  disciplined  soldiers  over  the  tumult- 
uous hordes  that  formed  the  armies  of  the  Indian 
states ;  it  was  natural  that  these  should  seek  an  alli- 
ance with  the  invincible  strangers,  and  Dupleix  was 
ready  to  respond  to  any  such  appeals.  He  knew  that 
by  judicious  intervention,  rather  than  by  conquest, 
French  ascendency  could  be  gradually  but  surely  es- 
tablished, and  he  did  not  have  to  wait  long  before 
putting  this  policy  into  execution. 

In  1749,  Nizam  ool  Moolk,  subahdar  of  the  Dekkan, 
died,  having  reached,  as  was  said,  the  ripe  age  of  one 
hundred  and  four.  By  his  will,  he  left  his  govern- 
ment to  a  grandson,  most  unfitly  called  Mozuffer 
Jung,  or  the  invincible,  and  he  disinherited  his  son 
Nazir  Jung.^ 

In  the  distracted  condition  of  Indian  politics  the 
wills  of  dead  princes  counted  for  little ;  Nazir  seized 
the  treasury  of  the  Dekkan,  obtained  control  of  the 
army,  and  Mozuffer  found  himself  a  fugitive  without 
money  or  followers.  In  character  he  resembled  most 
of  the  Indian  princes  who  were  reared  in  the  harem 
and  trained  to  indolence  and  debauchery:  he  was 
listless,  feeble,  and  timid,  unfit  to  lead  an  army  or 
govern  a  state.     These  qualities  did  not   make  him 

^  Nizam  left  four  other  sons,  but  they  were  not  regarded  as 
possible  successors.  Strictly  he  had  no  right  to  say  who  should 
succeed  to  his  o£Qce,  for  the  appoiutment  belonged  to  the  Em- 
peror of  Delhi. 


DUPLE  IX.  401 

any  the  less  acceptable  to  the  powerful  allies  who 
now  espoused  his  cause. 

Chunda  Sahib,  a  man  of  some  ability  and  an  en- 
thusiastic admirer  of  the  French,  aspired  to  be  Nawab 
of  the  Carnatic.  The  Subahdar  of  the  Dekkan  was 
nominally  overlord  of  the  Carnatic  with  the  right  to 
nominate  the  nawab,  and  Chunda  resolved  to  give  his 
assistance  to  the  despoiled  Mozuffer.  The  title  of 
Mozuffer  was  recognized  by  the  court  of  Delhi ;  nomi- 
nally this  was  much,  and  practically  it  was  nothing. 
By  the  advice  of  Chunda  he  now  took  a  step  of  much 
more  importance,  for  he  applied  to  Dupleix  to  assist 
him  in  the  enforcement  of  his  rights.  The  French 
governor-general  asked  for  no  better  opportunity. 
Mozuffer  had  a  legal  title  and  a  pliant  character ;  he 
was  an  ideal  candidate  for  ruler  of  the  Dekkan. 

Dupleix  did  not  ask  for  instructions  from  his  com- 
pany, because  he  knew  the  officers  would  be  unfavor- 
able to  his  project ;  he  at  once  declared  himself  the 
ally  of  Mozuffer,  and  sent  four  hundred  French  and 
twelve  hundred  sepoys  to  support  his  claims.  Mo- 
zuffer had  never  seen  European  troops,  and  when  he 
first  beheld  this  paltry  force  he  was  plunged  in  despair. 
He  soon  discovered  that  quality  counted  for  more  than 
quantity.  The  French  attacked  the  army  of  Anwa- 
rooden,  Nawab  of  the  Carnatic,  and  the  ally  of  Na- 
zir  Jung.  The  battle  was  a  rejjetition  of  that  of  St. 
Thome.  The  forces  of  the  nawab,  twenty  thousand 
strong,  with  two  hundred  elephants  and  over  two  hun- 
dred cannon,  were  encamped  upon  a  mountain  at  Am- 
boor.  Though  their  position  was  a  strong  one,  an 
attempt  was  at  once  made  to  storm  it.  The  native 
auxiliaries  of  Mozuffer  soon  fell  back,  but  the  Frencli 
continued  their  advance  and  scaled  the  parapet  which 


402  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

defended  the  camp;  the  nawab  was  killed  and  his 
army  scattered.  At  the  sight  of  this  success,  Mozuf- 
fer's  distrust  was  succeeded  by  a  blind  confidence. 
"  With  five  hundred  of  these  men,"  he  cried,  *'  I  would 
march  to  Delhi  and  encounter  the  Great  Mogul  him- 
self." He  was  proclaimed  Subahdar  of  the  Dekkan  on 
the  field  of  battle,  and  he  visited  Pondicherri  in  great 
pomp  to  present  thanks  to  Dupleix  for  his  assistance. 

The  Dekkan  was  not  yet  conquered,  and  Nazir 
Jung,  alarmed  by  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  now 
advanced  into  the  Carnatic  with  an  enormous  horde 
of  followers,  estimated  at  three  hundred  thousand 
men.  With  them  was  a  little  body  of  six  hundred 
English  troops  under  the  command  of  Major  Law- 
rence, who  were  worth  more  in  battle  than  this  in- 
numer^-ble  multitude.  Nazir's  enemies  were  now 
alarmed  and  discouraged.  An  attempt  to  capture 
Trichinopoly  was  unsuccessful ;  there  was  a  mutiny 
among  the  French  troops,  and  they  retreated  to  Pondi- 
cherri. With  the  mutability  of  the  eastern  tempera- 
ment, Mozuffer  now  despaired  of  success,  and,  receiving 
some  promises  of  favorable  treatment,  he  mounted  an 
elephant,  fled  from  the  camp  of  his  allies,  and  surren- 
dered himself  to  Nazir  Jung.  The  promise  was  kept 
as  such  promises  were  kept  in  the  East:  Mozuffer 
was  at  once  put  in  chains,  and  might  anticipate  the 
usual  fate  of  defeated  sovereigns  in  India,  to  be  mur- 
dered whenever  it  suited  the  pleasure  of  his  conqueror. 

Dupleix  was  never  more  energetic  than  when  for- 
tune seemed  adverse ;  he  pimished  the  mutinous 
officers,  restored  the  discipline  of  his  little  army,  and 
directed  a  night  attack  upon  the  forces  of  Nazir 
Jung's  lieutenant.  It  was  not  difficult  to  surpris<i 
an  enemy  who  took  no  precautions,  for  the  custom  of 


DUPLEIX.  408 

Indian  soldiers  was  to  eat  a  hearty  supper  and  then 
smoke  opium  until  they  were  plunged  into  a  profound 
sleep.^  The  French  penetrated  into  their  camp  and 
killed  some  twelve  hundred  men  with  a  loss  of  only 
three  of  their  own  party.  The  loss  of  a  few  hvmdred. 
men  was  unimportant,  but  the  moral  effect  of  this 
nocturnal  assault  was  great,  and  the  soldiers  of  Nazir 
were  terrified  by  opponents  who  pursued  them  by 
night  as  well  as  by  day.  He  himself  did  nothing  to 
restore  what  little  discipline  they  ever  had.  The 
English  were  discontented  and  retired  to  Fort  St. 
David ;  an  insignificant  night  assault  had  changed 
the  whole  aspect  of  the  war.^ 

In  warfare  between  Indian  princes  the  gain  of  a 
battle  often  proved  of  little  permanent  importance. 
It  was  regarded  by  the  victor  as  an  occasion  for  un- 
limited loot  and  license  ;  while  he  was  caressing  the 
new  inmates  of  his  harem  and  admiring  the  additional 
diamonds  of  his  crown,  the  fruits  of  the  victory  were 
lost.  The  unfortunate  Nazir  had  to  deal  with  enemies 
of  a  different  sort.  They  followed  up  their  success  by 
routing  the  army  of  his  ally,  Mahomet  Ali,  and  then 
at  once  proceeded  to  lay  siege  to  Girgee,  the  strongest 
place  in  the  Camatic.  Girgee  had  long  been  regarded 
as  impregnable ;  it  was  surrounded  by  a  wall  three 
miles  in  circuit,  it  was  situated  between  mountains, 
and  protected  by  citadels,  the  approaches  to  which 
were  so  steep  as  to  be  almost  impassable.  Ten  thou- 
sand men  defended  this  place,  which  was  now  attacked 
by  a  little  body  of  hardly  a  thousand.  But  the  as- 
sailants knew  how  to  aim  their  guns,  and  were  not 
disturbed  by  the  tumultuous  discharges  of  weapons 

^  Ortne  is  my  authority  for  this  statement. 

*  Mem.  of  Coloucl  Lawreuce,  and  Mss.  Bib.  Nat. 


404  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

fired  at  random,  and  they  were  commanded  by  Bussy, 
the  ablest  oiSicer  the  French  ever  sent  to  India.  The 
priest  pronounced  his  blessing  on  the  little  army,  and 
then  discharged  his  pistol  towards  the  enemy.  At 
this  signal,  the  soldiers  at  once  rushed  to  storm  the 
town,  and  before  sundown  Girgee  was  in  their  pos- 
session. The  citadels  were  still  held  by  the  natives. 
At  four  in  the  morning  the  moon  set,  and  in  the  dark- 
ness which  followed  the  French  climbed  up  the  steep 
ascents,  and  by  daybreak  the  French  flag  floated  in  a 
town  into  which  no  foreign  soldier  had  before  entered. 
Of  all  the  victories  won  by  the  French,  none  produced 
a  greater  effect  than  the  capture  of  Girgee.  The  place 
had  defied  the  most  famous  of  eastern  warriors  at  the 
head  of  armies  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men,  and 
soldiers,  who  had  captured  it  in  a  night,  had  indeed 
proved  their  invincibility.  The  fruits  of  the  victory 
were  of  a  nature  peculiar  to  eastern  civilization  :  a 
number  of  the  most  powerful  supporters  of  Nazir  in- 
formed Dupleix  of  their  readiness  to  desert  a  failing 
cause,  and  offered  to  carry  their  treason  into  effect  as 
soon  as  an  opportimity  opened. 

In  December,  1750,  the  French  attacked  the  army 
under  the  command  of  Nazir  Jung.  He  soon  recog- 
nized the  signs  of  treachery  among  his  adherents,  and, 
giving  orders  to  cut  off  the  head  of  Mozuffer  without 
delay,  he  drove  his  elephants  furiously  towards  the 
Nawab  of  Kudda.  As  he  approached,  the  nawab  shot 
him  dead.  The  executioner  of  Mozuffer  knew  of  the 
plot,  and  had  judiciously  waited  for  the  result  before 
obeying  his  orders.  The  announcement  of  Nazir's 
death  decided  his  axjtion  ;  instead  of  beheading  Mo- 
zuffer, he  saluted  him  as  his  sovereign  ;  his  chains  wore 
struck  off,  he  mounted  the  elephant  of  the  late  ruler, 


DUPLE IX.  405 

the  great  vassals  of  the  Dekkan  crowded  about  him 
to  pay  their  reverence,  and  the  head  of  the  unfortu- 
nate Nazir  was  cut  off  and  presented  to  him.  Half 
an  hour  before,  Mozuffer  had  been  sitting  in  fetters, 
waiting  the  blow  of  the  headsman ;  now  he  was  the 
acknowledged  ruler  of  thirty-five  million  people  ;  so 
rapid  were  the  changes  in  the  political  kaleidoscoiJe 
of  India. 

It  was  fitting  that  the  installation  of  the  new  ruler 
should  take  place  in  the  presence  of  the  man  to  whom 
he  owed  his  fortune,  and  on  the  31st  of  December, 
1750,  Mozuffer  Jung  made  his  solemn  entry  into 
Pondicherri.  The  day  was  auspicious  for  the  great 
ceremonial ;  the  sun  and  sky  of  India  were  never  more 
brilliant.  The  subahdar  was  mounted  on  an  elephant 
of  enormous  size,  and  by  him  floated  his  standard,  a 
black  flag,  on  which  were  emblazoned  a  sun  and  a 
crescent ;  twenty-four  elephants  followed  carrying  his 
generals  ;  ten  thousand  horsemen  acted  as  escort,  each 
holding  his  sabre  in  his  hand  ;  over  twenty-seven  hun- 
dred standards  of  every  variety  and  device  marked  the 
dignity  of  as  many  great  officials ;  at  the  end  of  the 
long  procession,  twelve  elephants  carried  the  women  of 
his  family,  shut  up  in  inclosed  towers  to  protect  them 
from  the  public  gaze,  and  guarded  by  five  thousand 
arquebusiers.  The  cortege  was  met  by  Dupleix,  who 
from  principle  indulged  in  a  splendor  which  equaled 
that  of  the  native  rulers,  lie  knew  well  that  the 
trap})ings  of  state  had  their  influence  on  the  eastern 
mind,  and  he  never  neglected  tlieni.  lie  was  now 
attended  by  a  great  body  of  guards  ;  the  little  army 
of  French  and  se])oys  followed,  proud  in  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  brilliant  victories  they  had  won  ;  two  ele- 
phants carried  the  standard  of  France  and  that  of  the 


406  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

viceroy  of  the  Emperor  of  Delhi,  the  dignity  which 
Dupleix  held.  As  Dupleix  reached  the  tent  erected 
for  the  occasion,  the  firing  of  the  French  artillery 
was  so  furious  that  some  of  the  Hindu  nobles  were 
observed  to  be  shaking  with  terror.  A  throne  had 
been  placed  for  the  subahdar ;  as  he  mounted  it  he 
bade  Dupleix  ascend  and  sit  by  his  side.  The  new 
ruler  of  the  Dekkan  was  then  solemnly  installed  in 
his  office  ;  thirty  nawabs  and  fifty  rajahs  from  his  ex- 
tensive dominions  were  present  to  swear  allegiance. 
When  this  was  ended  Mozuffer  turned  to  Dupleix 
and  said  that  his  future  conduct  as  a  sovereign  should 
be  guided  by  his  advice ;  not  even  a  favor  would  be 
granted  without  his  approval,  and  he  prayed  for  the 
continuance  of  his  friendship ;  he  declared  that  the 
French  people  he  regarded  as  his  own,  and  he  put 
himself  and  his  family  under  the  protection  of  the 
great  king  beyond  the  water.  He  proved  this  to  be 
no  idle  form  of  words  by  the  gifts  which  he  then 
bestowed.  To  the  company  was  given  in  sovereignty 
Masulipatam  and  other  districts  containing  a  large 
population,  and  yielding  a  revenue  estimated  at  four 
hundred  thousand  rupees.  Next  were  announced  the 
honors  intended  for  Dupleix,  the  representative  of 
France,  the  king-maker  of  India.  He  was  invested 
with  the  dress  marking  the  highest  dignity  of  the  court 
of  Delhi ;  he  received  the  rank  of  a  captain  of  seven 
thousand  horse ;  he  was  granted  the  privilege  of  carry- 
ing the  ensign  of  the  red  fish,  an  honor  which  yielded 
to  no  other  the  Great  Mogul  could  bestow ;  the  for- 
tress of  Valdaur  and  its  dependencies,  producing  a 
revenue  of  one  hundred  thousand  rupees,  were  given  to 
him  individually,  for  himself  and  his  heirs ;  and  last 
and  most  important,  in  the  name  of  the  king  of  kings, 


DUPLEIX.  407 

who  sat  upon  the  peacock  throne,  Mozuffer  proclaimed 
Dupleix  nawab  of  all  the  territory  that  extended  from 
the  Kistna  to  Cape  Comorin ;  he  was  made  governor 
of  states  almost  as  great  as  the  kingdom  of  France, 
inhabited  by  millions  of  people,  yielding  a  vast  rev- 
enue, fruitful  in  all  the  products  which  grow  in  the 
rich  soil  of  India.  The  lad  who  had  left  France  twenty  <, 
years  before,  with  a  scanty  outfit,  to  seek  his  fortune 
in  strange  lands,  was  now  the  ruler  of  dominions  more 
wealthy  and  more  populous  than  the  domains  of  many 
a  European  monarch. 

Dupleix  received  these  honors  in  a  manner  that  in- 
creased the  admiration  with  which  he  was  regarded. 
He  had  not  engaged  in  this  war,  he  said,  to  con- 
quer kingdoms,  but  to  obey  the  orders  of  the  Great 
Mogul  whose  vassal  he  was  ;  he  would  retain  this  title 
of  Nawab  of  the  Carnatic,  but  he  asked  that  the  gov- 
ernment of  that  great  district  with  all  its  emoluments 
should  be  bestowed  upon  his  faithful  ally,  Chunda 
Sahib.  The  subahdar  consented  to  this  magnanimous 
abnegation,  and  the  Hindus  gazed  with  awe  on  the 
superior  being  who  won  and  gave  away  kingdoms, 
who  had  overthrown  mighty  rulers,  and  now  refused 
the  emoluments  of  one  of  the  greatest  offices  in  India, 
in  order  to  bestow  them  upon  a  follower.^ 

The  triumph  of  Mozuffer  Jung  was  the  triumph  of 
French  influence  in  the  Dekkan  as  well  as  in  the  Car- 
natic. The  new  subahdar  asked  that  a  body  of  French 
soldiers  shoiUd  accompany  him  to  his  own  provinces 
under  the  command  of  some  fit  officer,  by  whose  coun- 
sel he  could  profit.  This  was  exactly  what  Dupleix 
desired  ;  the  whole  country  from  the  Narbada  to  Cape 

1  Full  accounts  of  this  ceremonial  are  found  in  various  letters 
written  at  the  time  by  French  officers  and  residents. 


408  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Comorin  would  now  be  controlled  in  the  interests  of 
France,  and  would  be  really  tributary  to  the  French 
throne.  There  was  also  a  man  eminently  fitted  for 
the  position  of  confidential  adviser  of  the  subahdar. 
Bussy  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  late  war  against 
Nazir  Jung ;  superior  to  Dupleix  in  military  talent, 
he  was  hardly  inferior  to  him  in  skill  in  dealing  with 
the  native  princes,  and  he  was  an  enthusiastic  advo- 
cate of  the  policy  of  the  governor-general.  There 
was  but  one  objection  to  his  selection,  and  though  it 
could  not  have  been  foreseen,  it  proved  disastrous.  It 
took  him  far  away  from  the  Camatic,  and  no  other 
French  officer  in  India  developed  any  talent  as  a 
general ;  in  the  future  contests  in  the  peninsula,  the 
defeat  of  the  French  troops  was  due  to  the  incapacity 
of  their  commanders.  Bussy  was  the  only  man  who 
might  perhaps  have  contended  successf  uUy  against  the 
genius  of  Clive. 

For  the  present  the  star  of  Dupleix's  fortune  was  in 
the  ascendant.  He  founded  a  city  on  the  spot  where 
Nazir  had  met  defeat  and  death,  and  it  was  called 
Dupleix  Futteh-abad,  the  place  of  the  victory  of  Du- 
pleix. His  enemies  criticised  this  and  many  otlier  of 
his  acts,  as  dictated  by  an  overweening  arrogance  and 
vanity.  The  criticism  seems  hardly  just  when  we  con- 
sider the  people  with  whom  he  had  to  deal.  He  knew 
well  the  effect  of  display  on  the  Oriental  mind ;  the 
governor  who  appeared  arrayed  in  magnificent  cos- 
tumes, surrounded  by  an  imposing  guard,  after  whom 
cities  were  named,  before  whom  nawabs  and  rajahs 
prostrated  themselves,  was  far  more  impressive  to  the 
Hindu  population  than  some  plainly  dressed  French 
official,  who  should  stay  quietly  in  his  office,  disdain* 
ing  titles  and  pomp. 


DUPLEIX.  409 

Mozuffer  now  started  to  take  possession  of  his  gov- 
ernment, accompanied  by  three  himdred  French  sol- 
diers and  eighteen  hundred  sepoys,  under  the  command 
of  Bussy.  Mozuffer  had  little  opportunity  to  enjoy 
the  position  which  he  had  gained  after  so  many  vicis- 
situdes. On  his  march  to  the  Dekkan  a  quarrel  arose 
between  the  subahdar  and  some  of  his  rajahs.  Mozuf- 
fer ordered  a  body  of  soldiers  to  attack  the  offend- 
ers, and  in  the  skirmish  which  followed  he  was  pierced 
by  a  javelin  and  fell  dead.  For  a  moment  the  plans 
of  the  French  seemed  hopelessly  compromised,  but 
Bussy  was  master  of  the  situation.  Nominally,  it  was 
for  the  Mogul  at  Delhi  to  fill  Mozuffer's  place,  and 
choose  the  man  who  should  govern  the  Dekkan  as  his 
representative.  This  right  of  appointment  had  long 
been  only  a  fiction  ;  when  the  subahdar  died,  the  office 
was  seized  by  the  one  of  his  kinsmen  who  was  most 
prompt  and  adroit  in  obtaining  the  support  of  the 
army  and  of  the  great  nobles.  A  disputed  succession 
now  seemed  inevitable,  and,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
French,  the  Dekkan  would  have  been  plunged  in  civil 
war.  The  ascendency  which  Dupleix  had  obtained  was 
strikingly  shown  at  this  crisis.  The  claims  of  the  rival 
candidates  were  at  once  advanced ;  the  widow  of  Mo- 
zuffer asked  that  her  son  should  succeed  his  father  as 
subahdar ;  three  brothers  of  Nazir  Jung  had  been 
held  in  custody,  but  they  were  now  released,  and  their 
friends  prepared  to  support  their  pretensions.  With 
one  accord  the  rival  claimants  and  their  adherents 
turned  to  the  representative  of  France  to  decide  be- 
tween them,  and  the  sovereign  of  thirty-five  million 
Hindus  was  selected  by  a  young  French  officer  of 
thirty-two.  Bussy  heard  the  claims  of  the  contesting 
parties,  and  he  considered  under  which  candidate  order 


410  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

and  tranquillity  could  best  be  maintained.  Mozuffer 
Jung  had  been  tbe  ally  of  France,  but  his  son  was  a 
child ;  Nazir  Jung  had  been  overthrown  by  France,  but 
his  brothers  now  asked  for  the  protection  of  Dupleix 
and  promised  fidelity.^  Under  such  circumstances 
Bussy  decided  that  the  fittest  candidate  was  Salabut 
Jung,  the  oldest  of  the  three  brothers.  The  Hindu 
nobles,  the  army,  the  vast  population  of  the  Dekkan, 
submissively  accepted  the  ruler  selected  for  them,  and 
the  choice  was  ratified  by  Dupleix.  The  form  of  a 
nomination  by  the  court  of  Delhi  was  still  adhered  to, 
and  an  imperial  decree  was  produced  which  designated 
Salabut  as  viceroy  of  the  Great  Mogul  in  the  Dekkan. 
It  was  said  that  the  instrument  was  a  forgery,  and  for 
any  practical  purposes  it  was  immaterial  whether  it 
was  genuine  or  apocryphal ;  a  word  from  the  French 
general  was  enough  to  transform  Salabut  from  a  cap- 
tive to  the  sovereign  of  a  great  country.''^ 

It  was  with  good  reason  that  Bussy  expected  to 
exercise  the  same  influence  over  the  new  sovereign 
that  he  had  possessed  with  Mozuffer ;  it  was  to  the 
French  that  Salabut  owed  his  promotion,  it  was  by 
French  arms  that  his  rivals  could  be  overthrown.  He 
was,  moreover,  a  prince  of  feeble  character  and  desti- 
tute of  experience,  whose  life  had  been  divided  be- 
tween hunting  and  the  harem,  and  he  was  a  puppet 
in  the  hands  of  a  resolute  man ;  the  country  was  gov- 
erned in  the  name  of  Salabut  and  by  the  will  of 
Bussy ;  he  was  the  mayor  of  the  palace  of  Aurunga- 
bad ;  for  eight  years  the  Dekkan  could  be  regarded 
as  a  province  administered  by  a  French  proconsul. 

*  Relation  de  Kerjean. 

^  In  these  transactions  in  the  Dekkan  I  have  followed  the 
report  sent  to  Argcnsou  by  Kerjean,  Bussy's  lieutenant. 


DUPLEIX.  411 

With  the  assistance  of  his  allies,  Salabut  was  able 
to  repel  the  Mahrattas  and  his  other  enemies,  and  to 
enjoy  a  tranquillity  not  often  found  in  the  countries 
which  acknowledged  the  nominal  authority  of  the 
Mogul.  The  subahdar  was  a  man  of  infirm  purpose, 
and  Bussy  kept  a  vigilant  -watch  lest  some  native  ad- 
viser should  make  him  forget  the  benefits  of  foreign 
aid,  and  lure  him  into  an  attempt  to  throw  off  foreign 
dependence.  The  little  French  army  was  stationed  in 
the  citadel  which  commanded  Aurungabad.  They 
were  there  as  the  auxiliaries  of  Salabut  and  to  serve 
him  in  his  wars,  but  the  nominal  ally  was  the  real 
master.  A  rigid  discipline  averted  the  danger  of  a 
foreign  occupation  becoming  odious  to  the  popula- 
tion. No  soldier  could  leave  the  fortress  without  the 
written  permission  of  the  commander ;  drunkenness 
and  quarrels  with  the  inhabitants  were  strictly  for- 
bidden. A  soldier  helped  himself  to  an  orange  from 
a  tree,  and  the  gardener  made  complaint  to  the 
general.  Bussy  fixed  the  price  of  the  orange  at  one 
hundred  rupees,  and  ordered  the  soldier  to  pay  this 
sum  on  the  spot.  Marauding  at  such  a  price  had  no 
charms.^ 

In  his  own  conduct  Bussy  followed  the  example  of 
Dupleix.  Courteous  with  those  of  every  degree,  he 
maintained  a  state  which  impressed  the  natives  with 
his  greatness.  When  the  public  were  admitted  to 
gaze  upon  him,  they  found  him  surrounded  by  his 
officers  and  seated  upon  an  elevated  chair,  on  which 
were  emblazoned  the  arms  of  the  king  of  France. 
His  table  was  served  with  magnificent  plate ;  when 
he  attended  a  review  or  procession,  he  rode  on  an 
elephant,  preceded  by  a  troop  of  native  poets  and 
*  Relation  de  Kerjean. 


412  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

musicians,  singing  the  exploits  and  the  glory  of  the 
French.  1 

8ucli  pomp  was  partly  for  political  effect,  but  it  was 
fllso  agreeable  to  Bussy's  tastes ;  he  used  his  place,  as 
did  Dupleix  and  Clive,  to  gain  great  wealth  for  him- 
self, and  he  was  not  above  profiting  by  the  princely 
donations  which  were  offered  to  a  successful  general 
in  India.  When  Salabut  found  himself  established 
in  his  capital,  he  rewarded  his  allies  with  royal  lib- 
erality, and  it  was  said  that  the  share  of  the  French 
commander  was  one  hundred  thousand  pounds.  Such 
practices  were  universal ;  but  if  Bussy  accepted  wagon- 
loads  of  gold  and  baskets  of  jewels  from  grateful 
subahdars  and  nawabs,he  never  allowed  his  desire  for 
wealth  to  interfere  with  his  zeal  for  the  interests  of 
France. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  subahdar  was  exposed 
to  influences  hostile  to  the  French  occupation.  Syud 
Liishker  Khan,  a  crafty  Mahometan,  became  his  prime 
minister.  Sickness  compelled  Bussy  to  absent  himself 
for  a  while,  and  Syud  succeeded  in  dispersing  the  lit- 
tle army  of  French  and  sepoys  through  various  dis- 
tricts ;  they  were  irregularly  paid,  every  effort  was 
made  to  render  them  discontented  with  the  service,  and 
the  minister  applied  to  the  English  for  aid  in  reliev- 
ing the  country  from  its  French  protectors.  These 
intrigues  were  discovered,  and  the  wily  minister  found 
that  he  was  dealing  with  resolute  and  dangerous  ene- 
mies. Dupleix,  like  Hastings,  never  hesitated  at  any 
step  which  he  thought  the  political  situation  required. 
"  Would  n't  it  be  well  for  the  authority  of  the  subahdar 
and  for  our  own  interest,"  he  wrote  Bussy,  "  to  chop 

*  Sere  Mutakeim.  A  little  allowance  should  probably  be  made 
for  the  fervid  imagiuatiou  of  an  eastern  authority. 


DUPLEIX.  413 

off  the  head  of  Syud  Lushker  Khan?     Great  evils 
need  great  remedies."  ^ 

His  lieutenant  did  not  resort  to  this  measure,  but 
he  speedily  brought  the  minister  to  terms.  Hastening 
from  his  sick-bed,  and  collecting  his  little  army  at 
Hyderabad,  he  resolved  at  once  to  proceed  to  Aurun- 
gabad.  It  was  a  march  of  five  hundred  miles,  the 
country  through  which  he  had  to  pass  might  prove 
hostile,  and  he  had  but  a  handful  of  men  amid  a  dense 
population.  But  he  did  not  hesitate,  and  the  news  of 
the  French  approach  threw  Syud  Lushker  into  abject 
terror.  He  made  no  attempt  to  stop  their  ad- 
vance, and  as  soon  as  Bussy  had  reached  Aurungabad 
he  confessed  his  evil  ways,  and  promised  fidelity  for 
the  future.  The  French  commander  did  not  follow 
Dupleix's  suggestion,  and  Syud's  head  remained  on 
his  shoulders,  but  terms  were  exacted  which  should 
insure  the  future  docility  of  the  subahdar.  He  agreed 
to  undertake  no  measures  without  Bussy's  advice  and 
approval ;  by  an  article  still  more  important,  he  ceded 
to  the  French  Company  of  the  Indies  four  great  prov- 
inces, constituting  what  is  now  known  as  the  Southern 
Circars,  of  which  the  French  shoidd  receive  the  rev- 
enues so  long  as  they  maintained  an  army  in  the 
Dekkan.  Such  a  concession  was  practically  an  abso- 
lute grant.  It  was  Dupleix's  purpose  to  keep  a  French 
army  permanently  in  the  Dekkan,  and  to  hold  that 
country  in  the  interest  of  France.  The  territory 
ceded  extended  for  almost  five  hundred  miles  along 
the  coast,  it  yielded  a  revenue  of  four  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds,  it  contained  many  important  cities,  it 
was  I'ich  in  the  products  of  the  soil,  its  manufactures 
were  extensive  and  varied.  No  European  nation  had 
1  Dupleix  to  Bussy,  January  17,  1754. 


414  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

ever  possessed  in  India  a  dominion  such  as  the  Frencli 
now  held ;  they  received  the  revenue  of  the  Circars, 
the  Dekkan  was  controlled  by  Bussy^  and  Dupleix 
was  nawab  of  the  territory  south  of  the  Kistna ; 
almost  the  whole  of  the  great  peninsula  between  the 
Arabian  Sea  and  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  where  now  dwell 
one  hundred  million  people,  was  tributary  to  France. 

While  the  power  of  France  was  thus  increased  in 
the  Dekkan,  Dupleix  met  with  new  difficulties  in  the 
Carnatic,  and  he  encountered  the  man  whose  genius, 
assisted  by  the  impotence  of  the  French  government, 
secured  the  empire  of  India  for  England. 

Mahomet  Ali,  notwithstanding  his  defeats,  had  re- 
fused to  submit  to  the  authority  of  Chunda  Sahib. 
Dupleix  offered  him  liberal  terms,  for  if  Mahomet 
were  quieted,  nothing  remained  to  disturb  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  Carnatic.  Left  to  his  own  resources, 
he  would  have  been  obliged  to  submit,  but  at  last  the 
English  resolved  to  come  to  his  assistance,  and  to 
oppose  Dupleix  in  his  endeavors  to  obtain  complete 
control  of  the  peninsula.  Encouraged  by  the  promises 
of  their  aid,  Mahomet  refused  to  make  peace,  and 
Dupleix  resolved  to  reduce  him  to  submission.  Tri- 
chinopoly  was  the  capital  of  the  district  which  recog- 
nized Mahomet's  authority,  and  the  French  undertook 
the  siege  of  that  city.  If  their  efforts  had  been  suc- 
cessful, it  is  probable  that  the  peninsula  woidd  have 
become  a  French  possession ;  but  their  failure,  fol- 
lowed by  Dupleix's  recall,  left  the  way  clear  for  the 
establishment  of  the  British  empire  in  India. 

The  force  sent  to  besiege  Trichinopoly  was  large 
enough  for  the  purpose,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  even 
Clive  could  have  saved  the  place  if  he  had  encoun- 
tered a  general  of   moderate   capacity.     It  detracts 


DUPLEIX.  415 

nothing  from  Clive's  glory,  but  it  was  his  good  for- 
tune that  in  the  memorable  contest  between  France 
and  England  in  India  he  met  men  far  below  medi- 
ocrity as  opponents  in  the  field.  The  death  of  Para- 
dis  and  the  transfer  of  Bussy  to  the  Dekkan  left 
Dupleix  with  no  competent  officers  ;  his  military  oper- 
ations  failed  almost  without  exception  by  reason  of 
the  blundering  incapacity  of  the  men  to  whom  their 
execution  was  intrusted.  It  was  perhaps  a  mistake 
that  he  did  not  himself  accompany  his  forces.  He 
was  not  indeed  an  educated  soldier,  but  Clive's  mili- 
tary education  consisted  in  poring  over  books  of 
account  and  drawing  bills  of  lading.  Successful  war- 
fare in  India,  where  small  bodies  of  men  encountered 
undisciplined  opponents,  did  not  require  the  military 
skill  with  which  an  army  of  one  hundred  thousand 
men  manoeuvred  in  the  battlefields  of  Europe;  if 
Clive  had  gone  from  his  desk  at  Madras  to  command 
an  army  in  Flanders,  his  career  might  have  been  less 
successful.  But  Dupleix  showed  no  disposition  to  act 
as  leader  of  his  soldiers,  or  to  replace  the  lamentable 
incapacity  of  his  officers.  'His  enemies  said  that  his 
boldness  as  a  political  schemer  was  not  accompanied 
by  an  equal  degree  of  physical  bravery.  It  may  have 
been  so.  Still,  he  showed  courage  at  the  siege  of 
Pondicherri,  and  he  may  have  argued  with  justice 
that  if  he  exposed  himself  to  the  dangers  of  battle, 
and  fell  by  some  stray  bullet  or  javelin,  his  death 
would  be  a  fatal  blow  to  French  success  in  India.  At 
all  events,  the  command  of  the  army  besieging  Tri- 
chinopoly  was  given  to  Law,  a  nephew  of  the  famous 
John  Law,  and  a  worse  man  for  the  position  could 
not  have  been  found. 

The  French  blockaded  the  town,  and  its  capture 


416  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

seemed  only  a  question  of  time.  The  place  could 
have  been  taken  by  storm,  but  Law  declared  that  such 
an  undertaking  would  cost  the  lives  of  too  many  men. 
If  Dupleix  had  not  the  skill  to  command  an  army  in 
the  field,  he  had  good  judgment  as  to  the  course  to 
be  pursued.  "  The  thing  to  be  considered,"  he  wrote 
Law,  "  is  not  how  many  men  may  be  lost,  but  how  to 
be  done  with  the  matter."  Such  remonstrances  were 
wasted  on  his  inert  lieutenant,  and  while  the  siege 
dragged  along,  Dupleix  found  himself  confronted  with 
a  new  and  dangerous  antagonist.  Taking  a  small 
body  of  men,  Clive  endeavored  to  divert  the  atten- 
tion of  the  French  from  Trichinopoly  by  capturing 
the  important  city  of  Arcot,  the  capital  of  the  pos- 
sessions of  Chunda  Sahib,  and  the  advantage  which 
he  thus  gained  he  secured  by  his  famous  defense  of 
the  place  against  an  army  twenty  times  larger  than 
his  own. 

While  these  victories  did  much  to  increase  the  pres- 
tige of  the  English  in  India,  they  did  not  accomplish 
the  object  which  Clive  desired ;  Dupleix  kept  his 
forces  before  Trichinopoly,  and  the  town  was  still 
closely  invested.  The  English,  under  Major  Law- 
rence, with  Clive  for  his  second,  now  advanced  to  the 
relief  of  the  city.  Their  plans  were  weU  designed, 
yet  such  were  the  advantages  of  Law's  i)osition  that 
he  could  easily  have  repelled  them.  But  the  French 
commander  manifested  not  only  lack  of  military  skill, 
but  irresolution  and  timidity.  In  the  midst  o\  the 
siege  he  had  written  Duj)lt'ix  a«kiiig  that  he  might 
leave  tlie  army  and  return  to  Pondicherri,  as  his  wife 
was  to  be  confined  and  desired  his  presence.  "  Hus- 
bands usually  avoid  such  scenes,  which  are  very  dis- 
gusting," replied  Duj)]eix,  "and  you  choose  the  most 


DUPLE  IX.  417 

critical  moment,  when  the  fate  of  Trichinopoly  is  to 
be  decided."  Law  might  as  well  have  been  at  his 
wife's  bedside  as  to  have  remained  where  he  was.  l^ie 
English  forced  their  way  to  Trichinopoly ;  not  only 
was  the  siege  raised,  but  the  French  army  was  now 
in  a  critical  position.  A  position  that  was  dangerous 
Law  soon  changed  into  a  situation  that  was  hopeless ; 
his  only  course  was  to  fall  back  ujjon  Pondicherri ; 
the  retreat  would  not  have  been  free  from  danger,  but 
it  might  have  been  made  with  small  loss.  Instead 
of  this,  Law  transferred  his  entire  force  to  the  island 
of  Seringham,  and  the  English  at  once  cut  off  his 
retreat.  Nothing  now  remained  but  to  fight  his  way 
out  or  to  surrender.  As  a  last  resort,  Dupleix  gath- 
ered together  some  reinforcements  from  the  troops 
not  already  engaged  at  the  siege,  and  they  endeavored 
to  form  a  junction  with  those  shut  uj>  in  the  island. 
The  governor  took  another  step  which  had  been  too 
long  delayed :  he  dii'ccted  Law  to  turn  over  his  com- 
mand to  Auteuil.  "  I  am  persuaded,"  added  Dupleix 
sarcastically  in  his  letter,  "  that  this  arrangement  will 
give  great  pleasure  to  your  wife."  But  It  was  too 
late  for  any  measure  to  be  efficacious ;  Law  did  not 
coijperate  with  the  forces  coming  to  his  relief,  and 
they  were  defeated  by  Clive.  The  French  conunander 
was  paralyzed  either  by  physical  timidity  or  by  the 
dread  of  an  engagement,  his  provisions  were  failing, 
he  dared  not  cross  the  river  and  risk  a  battle,  and  on 
the  3d  of  .Tune,  1752,  the  army  un»k'r  his  eoinmaiul, 
nearly  eight  hundred  Enritpeaiis  and  two  thousand 
sei)oys,  became  prisoners  ol"  war.'  Chnnda  Sahib  was 
with  them,  and  he  had  shown  during  the  siege  a  niili- 

'    riic  MSS.  Jicconnt  in  the  Bih.  Nat.  snys  tlu'ic;  were  only  tour 
liuudred  aud  fourtecu  Europeans  made  piisouci's. 


418  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

tary  judgment  far  superior  to  that  of  the  French  com 
mander.  He  now  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies, 
au^l  met  the  usual  fate  of  defeated  rulers  in  India :  he 
was  at  once  stabbed,  and  his  head  was  cut  off  and  sent 
in  triumph  to  Mahomet  Ali.^ 

Such  a  reverse  would  have  discouraged  most  men, 
but  Dupleix  was  indomitable.  His  soldiers  were  pris- 
oners, his  ally  was  killed,  but  he  at  once  began  to 
seek  new  alliances  and  to  collect  new  forces.  He 
received  a  little  aid  from  home,  for  five  hundred  men 
sent  by  the  company  arrived  at  Pondicherri.  They 
were  the  refuse  of  the  community :  pickpockets  who 
found  Paris  uncomfortable,  bandits  who  had  escaped 
from  the  jail  and  the  galleys ;  they  were  ill  armed,  they 
did  not  know  how  to  perform  the  simplest  military 
evolution,  but  they  were  white  men,  and  they  could 
be  equipped  and  drilled,  and  taught  how  to  fire  a  gun. 
Sickness  compelled  Clive  to  return  to  Europe,  and 
removed  Dupleix' s  most  formidable  adversary.  The 
princes  who  were  allied  with  Mahomet  Ali  became 
jealous  and  discontented,  and  Jan  Begum  plied  them 
with  her  most  adroit  letters.  Hopes  of  gain  detached 
the  powerful  regent  of  Mysore  from  the  coalition  ; 
Dupleix  obtained  the  warlike  Mahrattas  as  allies ; 
some  small  successes  restored  the  prestige  of  the 
French  army,  and  in  1753  the  siege  of  Trichinojwly 
was  again  undertaken. 

But  fortune  had  deserted  Dupleix.  Seven  hundred 
soldiers,  under  an  experienced  and  skillful  officer, 
sailed  from  France  to  recruit  his  scanty  army ;  the 

'  For  the  siege  of  Trichinopoly  there  are  the  French  official 
reports,  the  correspondence  of  Dupleix,  and  various  MSS.  ac- 
counts in  the  Bib.  Nat.,  also  the  memoirs  of  Lawrence.  The  best 
modern  account  is  found  in  Mallcsou's  French  in  India. 


DUPLEIX.  419 

vessel  was  lost  with  almost  eveiy  man  on  board.  A 
well-concerted  attempt  was  made  to  surprise  Trichi- 
nopoly,  and  the  French  succeeded  in  mounting  the  out- 
works unobserved.  Their  orders  were  to  push  on  in 
silence,  but  in  the  exultation  of  success,  they  let  off  a 
volley  and  roused  the  garrison.  If  the  order  to  keep 
silence  had  been  obeyed,  said  the  English  officers,  the 
town  would  have  been  captured ;  as  it  was,  the  attack 
resulted  in  a  disastrous  failure.^ 

Still,  the  position  of  Dupleix  was  by  no  means  des- 
perate ;  the  Subahdar  of  the  Dekkan,  whose  power  was 
second  only  to  that  of  the  Mogul,  was  his  firm  ally  ; 
the  influence  which  the  French  exerted  in  the  Car- 
natic  was  not  inferior  to  that  of  the  English,  and  in 
his  ability  to  enlist  the  native  princes  in  his  cause, 
Dupleix  was  equaled  by  no  one ;  a  few  thousand  good 
soldiers  would  still  have  secured  India  to  France. 
He  sent  Auteuil  to  Paris  to  explain  the  situation, 
and  to  ask  the  aid  of  the  government  in  the  great 
enterprises  which  he  had  undertaken.  "  The  honor 
and  glory  of  the  king  and  the  advantage  to  the  nation 
are  the  two  points  he  will  discuss,"  wrote  Dupleix. 
"  The  minister  must  act,  and  the  king  give  his  orders."  ^ 
Trusting  to  arguments  that  might  prove  more  effica- 
cious with  Louis  XV.  than  appeals  for  the  glory  of 
France,  Mme.  Dupleix  sent  magnificent  presents  to 
be  given  to  Mme.  de  Pompadour. 

In  the  mean  time  Dupleix  began  negotiations  for 
peace,  but  they  were  little  more  than  a  farce.  Du- 
pleix would  concede  nothing  that  could  permanently 
affect  the  influence  of  France ;  the  English  desired 
no  peace  which  should  leave  that  unimpaired.     "  The 

^  See  the  accounts  of  Lawrence  and  Colonel  Wilkes. 
3  Dupleix,  October  15,  1752. 


420  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

conferences  will  result  in  nothing,"  Dupleix  wrote  to 
Bussy,  "unless  we  are  willing  to  dishonor  ourselves, 
and  you  will  never  advise  Ine  to  do  that."  ^  Both  par- 
ties produced  proofs  of  the  titles  of  the  princes  they 
supported,  but  in  India  the  only  valid  title  was  su- 
perior force.  If  any  local  potentate  thought  that  a 
firman  signed  by  the  Emperor  of  Dellii  or  the  Subahdar 
of  the  Dekkan  would  render  his  claim  more  plausible, 
he  never  hesitated  to  forge  what  was  required.  "  All 
that  we  produced  on  our  side,"  said  Dupleix,  "  fir- 
mans, paravanas,  and  other  documents,  were  forged. 
The  other  side  did  not  condescend  to  exhibit  anything 
to  us,  either  forged  or  genuine,  but  said  that  we  could 
take  their  word  for  what  they  alleged."  ^  The  nego- 
tiations resulted  in  nothing. 

The  disasters  at  Trichinopoly  had  sealed  the  fate 
of  Dupleix.  During  all  the  years  that  he  had  been 
building  up  the  power  of  France  in  the  East,  he 
had  met  either  opposition  or  lukewarm  support  from 
the  directors  of  the  East  India  Company;  his  plans 
aroused  no  enthusiasm  in  the  public  mind  ;  the  possi- 
bility of  a  French  empire  in  India  excited  less  interest 
at  Versailles  than  the  appointment  of  a  gentleman  in 
waiting,  or  the  success  of  the  last  comedy  at  Mme.  de 
Pompadour's  theatre. 

The  French  Company  of  the  Indies  had  never 
grasped  the  possibilities  which  might  result  from 
Dupleix's  policy.  The  directors  were  interested  only 
in  earning  dividends,  and  they  did  not  realize  that  the 
profits  on  a  few  shiploads  of  spice  or  cotton  cloth 
were  paltry  compared  with  the  wealth  to  be  gained  by 
administering  great  states.     It  was  a  question  whether 

1  Letter  of  December  31,  1753. 
*  DupleLx  to  Bussy. 


DUPLEIX.  421 

they  should  be  princes  or  shopkeepers,  and  they  pre- 
ferred to  remain  shopkeepers.  "It  is  time  to  limit 
the  extent  of  our  possessions  in  India,"  the  directors 
wrote  the  governor-general ;  "  the  company  fears  any 
increase  of  its  domains.  Its  object  is  not  to  become 
a  great  power."  ^  "The  company  desires  nothing 
which  can  excite  the  jealousy  of  other  nations ;  it  does 
not  need  states,  but  some  port  for  its  trade  with  a  ter- 
ritory two  or  three  leagues  in  extent."  ^  "  What  shall 
we  answer,"  they  wrote  again,  "  to  those  who  say  we 
wish  to  be  conquerors  instead  of  merchants  ?  "  ^  "  The 
company  wishes  no  alliance  with  any  legitimate  sov- 
ereign or  with  any  usurper.  Let  them  end  their 
quarrels  as  they  can  without  our  furnishing  aid  to  one 
side  or  the  other."  * 

Louis  XV.  and  his  ministers  took  no  broader  or 
more  statesmanlike  views  than  the  merchants  who  as- 
sembled in  the  Rue  neuve  des  Capucins.  "  We  wish," 
wrote  the  royal  commissioner,  "  no  victories,  no  con- 
quests, a  great  deal  of  merchandise,  and  some  increase 
in  dividends."  The  Subahdar  of  the  Dekkan  asked 
for  a  force  of  French  auxiliaries,  which,  though  not 
lai'ge  in  itself,  would  have  rendered  him  the  most 
powerful  sovereign  in  India  ;  the  expense  of  this  army 
would  have  been  paid  by  further  grants  to  the  com- 
pany, and  they  would  have  remained  under  Bussy's 
command ;  with  such  a  force  the  subahdar  could  have 
dictated  terms  at  the  gates  of  Delhi  or  Calcutta,  and 
the  army  of  the  greatest  ruler  in  India  would  have 
been  led  by  a  French  general,  his  policy  would  have 

1  Letter  of  February  1,  1752. 
^  Instructions  to  Godehue. 

*  Letter  of  January  2,  1753. 

*  Silhouette  to  Dupleix,  September  13,  1752. 


422  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

been  dictated  by  a  French  statesman,  his  dominions 
would  have  been  really  tributary  to  France. 

When  Dupleix  asked  for  this  assistance,  he  met  with 
a  chilling  response.  It  was  the  decision  of  the  king, 
as  well  as  of  the  company,  wrote  the  directors,  that 
the  request  should  be  refused ;  such  measures,  it  was 
feared,  could  only  serve  to  teach  the  inhabitants  of 
the  coimtry  the  arts  of  war ;  "  once  accustomed  to  war- 
fare," added  the  directors,  "  will  they  not  become  our 
masters?  and  should  we  take  the  hazard  of  finding 
ourselves  in  so  dangerous  a  condition  ?  The  position 
we  should  take  is  that  of  an  exact  neutrality.  An 
alliance  with  Mozuffer  Jung  or  Chunda  Sahib  may 
serve  to  foster  their  ambition  and  to  perpetuate  disturb- 
ances in  India  which  will  be  fatal  to  our  commerce."  ^ 

Despite  such  discouraging  instructions,  Dupleix  had 
established  Bussy  in  the  Dekkan,  with  an  array  tliat 
was  formidable  in  courage  and  discipline,  if  not  in 
numbers,  and  there  was  now  an  opportunity  to  open 
diplomatic  relations  with  the  Mogul  himself.  Jhe 
governor-general  saw  in  his  imagination  a  French 
proconsul  established  at  Delhi  as  at  Aurungabad,  and 
in  the  Mogul,  an  ally,  a  representative,  and  even  a 
subject  of  France.  "  You  and  all  of  Europe  will  be 
surprised  at  the  effect  such  an  embassy  will  produce," 
wrote  Dupleix.  *'  The  time  for  the  harvest  is  come, 
and  we  must  profit  by  it."  Such  an  embassy  required 
to  be  accompanied  with  presents  fitting  the  dignity  of 
the  monarch  to  whom  it  was  sent,  and  this  was  enough 
to  alarm  the  directors.  "  You  were  at  least  indiscreet 
in  determining  upon  such  an  important  step,"  they 
wrote  Dupleix ;  "  the  company  has  no  thoughts  of 
Bending  presents  to  the  Mogul.  It  is  an  expense 
^  Letter  of  February  1,  1762. 


DUPLEIX.  423 

which  we  must  avoid."  It  is  by  such  considerations 
that  the  fate  o£  nations  is  decided. 

In  truth,  these  visions  of  Dupleix,  which  were  soon 
to  be  realized  by  the  English,  were  regarded  in  France 
as  the  wildest  chimeras.  "  You  may  say,"  wrote  the 
minister  of  finance  to  the  French  ambassador  at  Lon- 
don, "that  we  do  not  desire  to  have  possessions  in 
India  more  extensive  than  those  of  England,  nor  to 
exact  nine  millions  of  revenue,  nor  to  keep  for  our- 
selves the  exclusive  commerce  of  Golconda  or  the 
Coromandel  coast.  We  look  upon  such  projects  as 
chimeras."  ^  The  abbes  and  poets  of  Versailles  jested 
about  the  visions  of  Dupleix,  who  thought  that  with 
two  or  three  thousand  soldiers  he  could  dictate  terms 
to  the  Great  Mogul,  who  sat  on  a  throne  of  precious 
stones,  surrounded  by  a  splendor  that  Versailles  could 
not  excel ;  whose  armies  were  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  men,  and  whose  treasury  contained  untold  lakhs  of 
rupees. 

The  indifference  of  the  court  was  shared  by  the 
public,  and  an  evil  example  was  set  by  the  economical 
writers,  who  already  exercised  a  considerable  influence 
on  French  thought.  The  economists  taught  much 
that  was  wise  and  much  that  was  foolish,  and  for  colo- 
nial development  and  the  acquisition  of  foreign  empire 
they  professed  a  philosophical  contempt.  This  phase 
of  popular  feeling,  like  so  many  of  its  phases,  found 
its  expression  in  Voltaire. 

"These  vast  domains,"  he  wrote,  "these  costly 
establishments,  and  the  wars  undertaken  to  maintain 
them,  are  the  fruit  of  the  effeminacy  of  our  cities  and 
the  avidity  of  our  merchants.  It  is  to  furnish  the 
bourgeois  of  Paris  and  London  with  more  delicacies 
^  Machault  to  Mlrepoix,  March  11,  1754. 


424  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

than  are  consumed  at  the  tables  of  princes,  to  bedeck 
the  wives  of  citizens  with  more  diamonds  than  queens 
wear  at  their  coronations,  and  to  infect  our  nostrils 
w^ith  a  disgusting  powder,  that  this  immense  commerce 
lias  started,  which  is  always  disadvantageous  to  three 
quarters  of  Europe ;  it  is  to  sustain  this  commerce 
that  gTeat  powers  have  begun  a  war,  where  the  first 
cannon  fired  has  opened  the  batteries  of  America  and 
Asia."  1 

When  the  projects  of  Dupleix  were  regarded  by  the 
king,  the  company,  and  the  public  as  the  chimeras  of 
an  excited  imagination,  it  was  only  by  constant  suc- 
cess that  he  could  retain  his  position.  The  directors 
had  given  a  grudging  approval  to  his  actions  when 
they  resulted  in  the  elevation  of  Mozuffer  and  of 
Chunda  Sahib,  and  in  the  acquisition  of  large  terri- 
tories by  the  company.  Even  if  they  mistrusted  his 
policy,  they  could  hardly  condenm  undertakings  which 
had  been  crowned  with  signal  success.  But  he  was 
constantly  crippled  by  the  feeble  support  they  gave 
him ;  during  the  eleven  years  in  whicih  he  had  made 
French  influence  predominant  from  Cape  Comorin  to 
Aurungabad,  the  company  sent  him  only  two  thou- 
sand two  hundred  soldiers  in  all.^  It  was  the  advice 
of  Godehue,  who  finally  succeeded  him  in  office,  to 
stint  the  reinforcements  sent  to  India,  lest  Dupleix 
should  become  too  aggressive.^  The  directors  were 
in  constant  apprehension  of  the  complications  in  which 
they  might  become  involved,  and  the  king  and  his 

*  Fragments  sur  VInde. 

2  Mem.  pour  Dupleix,  App.  2. 

"  Thia  policy  is  stated  in  the  manuscript  journal  of  Godehue. 
See  pp.  28, 31 :  "  II  f aut  qu'il  ne  puisse  pas  abuser  de  trop  grandes 
forces,"  etc. 


DUPLE  IX.  425 

ministers  had  no  sympathy  with  plans  to  win  for 
France  an  empire  greater  than  that  which  had  been 
ruled  by  Charlemagne. 

When  it  was  known  at  Paris  that  the  siege  of  Tri- 
chinopoly  had  resulted  in  failure,  and  that  Law's  army 
had  surrendered  to  the  English,  all  the  enemies  of 
Dupleix,  those  who  believed  him  a  tyrant,  those  who 
were  envious  of  his  success,  his  wealth,  and  his  power, 
united  in  demanding  his  overthrow.  The  officers  of 
the  English  Company  at  last  realized  that  India  offered 
a  field  for  enterprises  more  important  than  shipping 
ivory  and  spice  from  Calcutta,  or  selling  knives  from 
Birmingham,  and  they  knew  that  Dupleix  was  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  English  domination  in  the  East. 
It  is  strange  that  the  managers  of  the  French  Company 
should  have  thought  it  wise  to  be  governed  in  the 
choice  of  their  agents  by  the  opinion  of  their  rivals, 
but  so  it  was.  They  cherished  the  delusion  that  the 
two  companies  could  agree  upon  an  amicable  division 
of  the  Indian  trade,  abandon  all  thoughts  of  territo- 
rial dominion,  leave  subahdars  and  nawabs  to  fight 
their  own  battles,  and  devote  themselves  in  harmony  to 
the  peaceable  earning  of  dividends.^  "  Nothing  could 
be  easier,"  replied  the  English,  "  if  you  would  only 
remove  that  firebrand  Dupleix  ;  it  is  his  wild  ambition, 
his  restless  interference,  that  keeps  India  in  confusion 
and  prevents  us  both  from  earning  our  dividends  in 
peace."  ^     Such  suggestions  met  the  approval  of  the 

^  See  the  proposition  to  that  effect  in  the  archives  of  tho 
marine,  prepared  by  the  French  Company  for  submission  to  the 
English.  As  has  been  truly  said,  it  reads  like  an  idyl  of  St. 
Pierre. 

*  There  are  constant  statements  to  this  effed;  in  the  corre- 
spondence from  the  French  agents  in  England.  See  especially 
the  letters  of  Duvalaer. 


426  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

officers  of  the  French  Company,  and  they  were  agree- 
able to  the  French  ministers.  The  government  wished 
to  avoid  any  quarrel  with  England ;  Dupleix  was  in- 
volving them  in  schemes  for  which  they  had  no  taste ; 
by  sacrificing  him  they  hoped  to  gain  the  good  will  of 
the  English  and  secure  their  own  tranquillity. 

It  was  decided  to  recall  Dupleix,  and  in  October, 
1753,  Godehue  was  chosen  to  represent  both  the  king 
and  the  company  in  India.  He  took  with  him  an 
order  for  Dupleix's  recall,  and  also  secret  directions 
for  his  arrest  if  any  resistance  were  attempted.^  The 
odious  comedy  was  played  of  assuring  Dupleix  that 
Godehue  was  sent  to  his  assistance  with  a  large  body 
of  troops.^  "  Godehue,"  wrote  Dupleix,  "  is  the  dear- 
est of  my  friends ;  I  await  him  with  impatience."  On 
the  1st  of  August,  1754,  the  friend  reached  Pondi- 
cherri;  he  at  once  presented  to  Dupleix  letters  of 
recall,  and  bade  him  and  his  family  take  passage  for 
Europe  at  the  first  opportunity.^  Dupleix  submitted 
quietly  to  these  orders,  and  it  was  not  thought  neces- 
sary to  put  him  under  arrest. 

No  event  could  have  caused  greater  excitement  in 
India  than  the  overthrow  of  the  famous  French  gov- 
ernor-general. Not  only  did  his  adherents  see  in  this 
step  the  ruin  of  French  interests,  but  the  native  rul- 
ers took  the  same  view.*  With  entire  justice  they 
regarded  it  as  a  triumph  for  England,  and  they  could 
conceive  no  reason  for  Dupleix's  recall,  except  that 

*  Instructions  for  Godehue.  The  order  for  Dupleix's  arrest 
was  signed  by  the  king,  October  29,  1753. 

'  See  among  other  letters  that  of  Godehue  to  Dupleix,  March 
31,  1763. 

'  MS.  Journal  de  Godehue,  105. 

*  See  the  various  letters  published  in  the  Memoires  pour  le 
Sieur  Dupleix. 


DUPLEIX.  427 

France  feared  the  English  and  had  deposed  him  at 
their  dictation.  "  It  appears  that  the  French  are 
neither  as  powerful  nor  as  generous  as  they  wished  us 
to  believe,"  wrote  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  Subah- 
dar  of  the  Dekkan,  "  and  the  English  have  the  upper 
hand  of  them.  I  will  not  conceal  the  fact  that  I  pur- 
pose to  treat  with  the  English." 

Not  oidy  was  Dupleix  disgraced  and  his  policy 
abandoned,  but  he  was  himself  reduced  to  poverty. 
To  the  cause  that  was  dear  to  him '  he  had  devoted  his 
entire  fortune ;  he  had  advanced  all  his  ready  money, 
and  in  addition  he  had  pledged  his  credit  for  vast 
sums.  These  moneys  had  been  expended  in  the  enter- 
prises of  the  company ;  his  acts  had  been  ratified  by 
its  officers,  and  they  had  resulted  in  territorial  gains 
from  which  great  revenues  could  have  been  obtained. 
The  cash  advances  of  Dupleix  were  said  to  amount  to 
three  million  livres,  and  he  had  pledged  his  credit  for 
four  million  more.^  The  company  surrendered  the 
advantages  which  he  had  gained  for  it,  and  repudiated 
the  debts  which  he  had  incurred.  All  of  Dupleix's 
possessions  in  India  were  confiscated,  the  bills  which 
he  held  were  dishonored  ;  even  his  personal  effects  were 
seized,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  he  procured  the 
release  of  sufficient  linen  for  his  voyage.^  He  found 
himself  a  ruined  man. 

He  returned  to  France  and  presented  his  claim 
against  the  company.     It  seems  to  have  been  a  just 

»  Mem.  pour  Dupleix,  118,  122,  135. 

*  See  Mem.  pour  Dupleix,  173.  Godehue  denies  this,  and  says 
he  took  the  revenues  and  the  possessions  granted  Dupleix  in 
India  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors.  Journal,  274.  But  liis 
creditors  were  those  who  had  advanced  money  to  the  company 
on  his  credit. 


428  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

one.  It  is  certain  that  Duplcix  was  a  man  of  great 
wealth  when  he  was  made  governor-general,  and  was 
hopelessly  bankrupt  when  he  was  removed,  unless  the 
company  would  repay  the  advances  he  had  made. 
There  could  be  no  better  proof  of  the  honesty  of  his 
conduct  and  the  extent  of  his  sacrifices.  If  he  had 
invested  his  wealth  in  lands  and  rentes  in  France, 
instead  of  devoting  it  to  the  cause  in  which  he  was 
engaged,  he  could  have  returned  to  his  own  country 
and  supported  a  state  which  would  have  eclipsed  that 
of  the  richest  prince  of  the  blood,  he  could  have  built 
palaces  more  splendid  than  those  erected  by  the  most 
extravagant  of  farmers-general;  he  did  go  back  to 
obscurity  and  need,  to  wear  out  his  life  in  struggling 
with  his  creditors  and  endeavoring  to  escape  the 
bailiff.  The  company  refused  to  allow  his  claims  on 
the  plea  that  they  were  not  verified  as  the  regulations 
required  ;  the  administration  in  India  was  now  hostile 
to  him,  and  the  technical  verification  demanded  he  was 
unable  to  obtain.  He  had  no  friends  at  court ;  the 
litigation  dragged  along  for  years  without  decision ; 
the  company  held  his  property  in  India  and  would 
give  him  nothing.  If  his  claims  were  larger  than  it 
could  meet,  at  least  a  faitlif ul  servant  should  not  have 
been  left  to  end  his  days  in  need.  But  Dupleix  was 
never  paid  a  sou.  He  spent  eight  years  at  Paris,  lead- 
ing the  saddest  of  all  lives,  that  of  a  needy  litigant. 
In  1758,  his  suit  against  the  company  was  sent  to  the 
royal  council,  and  there  for  the  five  remaining  years  of 
his  life  it  rested  undecided.  His  creditors  seized  what 
effects  he  had  in  France,  and  threatened  him  with  im- 
prisonment ;  his  wife  and  daughter  died  in  distress. 
One  of  the  last  letters  written  by  the  once  famous 
Jan  Begum  was  a  request  to  the  comptroller  general 


DUPLEIX.  429 

not  to  allow  her  husband  to  be  imprisoned  for  debt.* 
"  It  is  the  last  letter  I  shall  write  you,"  she  says, 
"  and  I  ask  you  to  give  me  at  least  this  consolation 
before  I  die."  Dupleix's  house  was  sold  on  execution  ; 
the  purchaser  demanded  possession,  and  the  uphol- 
sterer threatened  to  sell  the  furniture.  Some  of  his 
friends  interfered  to  prevent  his  being  put  in  the 
street,  and  he  was  allowed  to  die  under  a  roof  and  not 
in  the  gutter. 

On  November  10,  1763,  he  ended  a  career  more 
strange  in  vicissitudes  than  often  falls  to  man's  lot ; 
beginning  as  a  humble  subordinate,  he  had  become 
the  head  of  a  great  corporation ;  he  had  ruled  em- 
pires, the  very  names  of  which  were  unknown  to  most 
Europeans  ;  he  had  accumulated  wealth  which  would 
seem  vast  to  a  prosperous  banker  of  Amsterdam ;  he 
had  deposed  great  rulers  and  placed  his  followers  on 
thrones ;  he  had  inaugurated  a  policy  which  was  to 
affect  the  condition,  the  happiness,  the  institutions  of 
untold  millions  of  men  in  ages  to  come. 

Four  days  before  his  death  he  wrote :  "  I  have  sacri- 
ficed my  youth,  my  fortune,  and  my  life  to  gain  power 
and  wealth  for  my  country  in  Asia.  Unfortunate 
friends,  confiding  relatives,  have  devoted  their  prop- 
erty to  the  success  of  my  plans.  They  are  now  in 
misery.  I  demand  what  is  my  due,  like  the  meanest 
of  creditors ;  my  services  are  called  fables,  my  demands 
ridiculous.  I  am  in  the  most  deplorable  indigence. 
What  little  property  was  left  me  has  been  seized 
by  my  creditors,  and  I  have  been  obliged  to  ask  aid 
to  escape  being  dragged  into  prison."  No  man  ever 
summed  up  his  own  case  more  justly.  It  was  the 
treatment  accorded  one  of  the  greatest  French  states- 
»  Letter  of  November  3,  1758. 


430  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

men  by  the  government  of  Louis  XV.  and  Mme.  do 
Pompadour. 

Both  Clive  and  Hastings  met  with  opposition  and 
obloquy  in  their  endeavors  to  win  an  empire  for  Great 
Britain,  but  they  lived  to  see  their  ejBforts  crowned 
with  success,  and  to  enjoy  the  reward  of  their  services. 
Dupleix  was  the  equal  of  either  in  intellect,  in  resolu- 
tion, and  in  constancy ;  he  was  their  superior  in  the 
originality  of  his  genius.  Had  he  lived  in  the  time 
of  Richelieu  or  Colbert,  he  would  have  served  men 
able  to  understand  him  and  ready  to  support  him  ;  he 
might  have  done  great  things  for  his  country,  and 
have  gained  fame  for  himself.  But  his  lot  was  cast 
in  the  evil  days  of  Louis  XV.  ;  he  saw  his  projects 
brought  to  naught  by  the  fault  of  others ;  he  was 
treated  with  contumely  by  the  king  whose  reign  he 
sought  to  make  glorious ;  he  was  discarded  by  the 
company  to  whose  service  he  devoted  his  life  and  his 
fortune ;  he  was  regarded  with  indifference  by  the 
nation  whose  wealth  and  power  he  would  so  greatly 
have  increased ;  he  died  of  a  broken  heart,  with  the 
bailiff  knocking  at  his  door,  and  his  family  asking  in 
vain  for  some  one  to  relieve  their  distress. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   LOSS   OF   AN   EASTERN   EMPIRE. 

After  the  recall  of  Dupleix,  the  French  empire 
which  he  had  founded  in  the  East  soon  crumbled  away. 
In  a  few  years  the  supremacy  of  England  was  estab- 
lished in  India  beyond  any  possibility  of  future  over- 
throw. 

Godehue  was  the  man  selected  by  the  French  Com- 
pany to  replace  the  great  governor-general,  and  he 
was  sent  to  India  to  obtain  peace  on  any  terms.  The 
company  i*efused  Dupleix  the  soldiers  with  which  he 
might  have  made  himself  master  of  a  large  part  of 
Hindustan,  and  it  sent  two  thousand  men  with  Gode- 
hue with  orders  to  make  peace  forthwith.  His  in- 
structions told  him  that  the  great  object  of  his  mis- 
sion was  to  pacify  the  troubles  which  had  arisen ;  he 
was  to  remember  that  the  company  did  not  wish  to 
become  a  temporal  power,  that  extended  possessions 
were  difficult  to  protect,  and  that  his  first  endeavor 
must  be  to  conciliate  the  English.^  The  new  repre- 
sentative of  the  company  was  well  fitted  to  carry  out 
these  pusillanimous  directions.  He  was  a  man  without 
ability,  and  he  suspected  every  one  with  whom  he 
had  to  deal.2  Bussy,  in  his  judgment,  was  an  empty 
boaster ;  the  employees  at  Pondicherri  were  the  cor- 
rupt tools  of  his  predecessor ;  and  for  the  late  gov- 

^  Instructions  k  M.  Godehue. 

^  The  best  proof  of  this  is  Godehue's  MS.  Journal,  preserved 
at  the  Bib.  Nat. 


432  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

emor-general  himself  he  had  an  envious  hatred  ;  what- 
ever Dupleix  had  accomplished,  Godehiie  was  eager 
to  undo.  In  this  purpose  he  was  successful.  The 
English  had  only  to  propose  terms  to  have  them  ac- 
cepted ;  they  were  ready  to  demand  concessions,  and 
the  French  were  prepared  to  make  them  ;  there  was, 
therefore,  little  difficulty  in  reaching  an  agreement. 
On  the  26th  of  December,  1754,  two  mouths  after 
Dnpleix  had  sailed  for  home,  a  treaty  was  signed  by 
which  the  French  yielded  most  of  the  advantages  he 
had  gained  for  them.  They  surrendered  a  large  part 
of  their  possessions,  they  agreed  to  divide  with  the 
English  the  great  domains  which  had  been  ceded 
to  France,  they  renounced  all  dignities  granted  by 
native  princes,  and  promised  to  take  no  part  in  the 
disputes  between  native  rulers.^  The  English  also 
agreed  to  renounce  Indian  dignities,  but  they  had 
none  to  surrender  ;  they  promised  to  take  no  part  in 
internal  dissensions  ;  the  agreement  was  not  observed, 
and  it  was  impossible  that  it  should  be.  The  two 
great  western  companies  could  no  longer  remain  mere 
trading  corporations  ;  they  must  be  sovereigns  or  be 
insignificant.^     The  French  chose  the  latter. 

The  French  Company  of  the  East  Indies  had  dis- 
missed Dupleix  and  abandoned  his  policy  in  its  desire 
for  peace  and  dividends ;  all  that  it  gained  was  war 

^  Articles  conditionnels  signds  k  Pondicherri  le  26  Deceinbre, 
1754.  The  renunciation  of  Indian  offices  and  dignities  included 
a  surrender  of  the  Nawabship  of  the  Cai-natic  granted  to  Du- 
pleix as  representative  of  the  East  India  Company. 

'  "  If  the  company  pursues  a  timid  policy,"  wrote  Dupleix, 
"  and  takes  no  part  in  the  internal  affairs  of  India,  within  thirty 
or  forty  years  it  will  come  to  sure  ruin."  Mem.  pour  le  sieur 
Dupleix,  183.  His  prophecy  was  verified  in  less  time  than  he 
had  allowed.  •  ♦ 


THE  LOSS  OF  AN  EASTERN  EMPIRE.     433 

and  bankruptcy.  In  1756,  the  Seven  Years'  war  be- 
gan, and  hostilities  reconinieneed  in  India.  But  the 
contest  was  now  an  unequal  one  ;  the  French  had 
weakened  their  prestige,  they  had  surrendered  a  large 
part  of  their  possessions,  they  had  forfeited  the  confi- 
dence of  most  of  their  allies.  In  1757,  Clive  captured 
Chandarnagar,  and  with  the  fall  of  that  place  the 
French  lost  their  foothold  in  Benfjal.  The  relics  of 
their  power  in  the  Carnatic  and  the  Dekkan  were  all 
that  now  remained  for  the  English  to  destroy. 

At  last  the  court  of  Versailles  resolved  to  make 
some  effort  to  strengthen  the  position  of  France  in 
the  East.  Dupleix  had  been  recalled  by  the  order  of 
Louis  XV.  Godehue  had  been  sent  to  make  peace, 
as  the  representative  of  the  court  as  well  as  of  the 
company  ;  but  when  the  opportunity  was  gone,  it  was 
decided  that  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  regain 
what  had  been  abandoned,  to  win  back  what  had  been 
lost.  In  1756,  the  Count  Lally  -  Tollendal  was  ap- 
pointed commander  of  the  forces  in  India,  and  he  was 
sent  out  with  instructions  to  overthrow  the  ascendency 
which  the  English  had  gained  in  that  country. 

If  only  zeal  had  been  required,  LaUy  might  have 
accomplished  the  task.  He  had  been  bred  to  hate 
England,  as  Hannibal  was  taught  to  hate  Rome.  His 
father.  Sir  Gerard  Lally,  was  an  Irishman,  who  took 
up  arms  in  behalf  of  James  II.,  and  when  the  cause 
was  lost  he  sougrht  refuse  in  France.  He  became  an 
officer  in  the  French  army  and  served  with  credit,  but 
his  zeal  in  the  service  of  his  adopted  country  did  not 
make  him  forget  his  loyalty  to  the  House  of  Stuart. 
Amid  all  the  fugitives  who  dreamed  of  the  day  when 
the  king  should  have  his  own  again,  and  when  his 
followers  should  return  in  triumph  to  England,  under 


434  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

the  protection  of  a  lawful  sovereign,  no  one  was  more 
filled  with  such  illusions  than  Sir  Gerard;  no  one 
cherished  a  more  bitter  hatred  for  the  impious  rebels 
who  had  made  an  outcast  of  the  Lord's  anointed,  and 
who  supported  a  usurper  on  the  throne.  The  young 
Lally-Tollendal  was  brought  up  as  the  son  of  such  a 
man  would  be :  he  learned  to  be  brave,  to  hate  the 
English,  and  always  to  be  in  the  wrong. 

His  military  services,  like  those  of  many  French 
nobles,  began  in  childhood.  At  eight  years  of  age  he 
had  his  commission  as  a  captain,  and  he  accompanied 
his  father  in  a  campaign ;  at  twelve  he  mounted  guard 
in  the  trenches  before  Barcelona ;  while  he  was  still 
a  youth,  he  had  shown  his  courage  and  ardor  in  many 
engagements.  When  there  was  no  further  opportunity 
for  active  service,  Lally  engaged  in  Jacobite  plots  in 
England,  and  afterwards  he  went  on  a  secret  mission 
to  the  Russian  court,  in  the  hope  of  arranging  an 
alliance  between  France  and  Kussia  which  should 
insure  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts. 

The  war  of  the  Austrian  Succession  enabled  him  to 
pursue  his  military  career,  and  at  the  battle  of  Fon- 
tenoy  he  won  great  distinction ;  he  had  the  satisfaction 
of  commanding  a  brigade  of  loyal  Irishmen,  and  of 
witnessing  the  defeat  of  the  followers  of  the  House 
of  Hanover ;  he  was  wounded,  he  was  publicly  com- 
plimented for  his  gallantry,  and  he  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  brigadier-general.  Such  a  man  was  sure 
to  be  found  among  the  followers  of  Charles  Edward 
in  his  endeavor  to  regain  the  throne  of  his  ances- 
tors, and  Lally  obtained  the  consent  of  the  French 
government  to  follow  the  prince,  whom  he  still 
regarded  as  his  sovereign.  After  the  overthrow  of 
the  Pretender's  fortimes,  Lally  tried  to  obtain  aid  for 


THE  LOSS  OF  AN  EASTERN  EMPIRE.     435 

his  unfortunate  master  in  Ireland  and  in  Spain ;  he 
visited  London,  and  there  engaged  in  plots  against  the 
government.  A  price  was  put  on  his  head,  and  he 
made  his  escape  in  the  disguise  of  a  sailor;  a  party  of 
smugglers  captured  him,  and,  being  in  need  of  another 
hand,  they  compelled  him  to  serve  with  them.  He 
submitted  to  his  fate,  but  he  disingenuously  advised 
his  new  associates  to  land  on  the  French  coast,  where 
he  assured  them  they  would  be  undisturbed  and  could 
reap  great  profits.  They  were  all  captured  by  the 
French  authorities  and  thrown  in  prison,  when  Lally 
was  soon  identified  and  released.  His  services  in  the 
Stuart  cause  were  rewarded  by  the  shadowy  honor  of 
an  Irish  peerage  conferred  by  the  Pretender.^ 

Lally  was  selected  for  the  command  in  India  in  the 
belief  that  his  military  talents  and  his  zeal  against  the 
English  would  there  find  a  field  for  their  exercise. 
The  choice  was  an  unfortunate  one.  Lally  was  cer- 
tainly a  good  soldier,  but  he  was  a  very  unfit  man  for 
the  position  which  he  now  assumed.  His  adventurous 
and  unsatisfactory  career  had  made  him  a  morose  and 
suspicious  man  ;  he  had  no  skill  in  dealing  with  subor- 
dinates, and  he  was  profoundly  ignorant  of  India.  He 
had  indeed  presented  his  views  on  the  policy  to  be 
pursued  there,  but  they  were  the  views  of  a  man  who 
knew  nothing  about  the  subject.  "  It  is  an  absolute 
necessity,"  he  wrote,  "  to  renounce  the  system  of  Du- 
pleix,  which  was  the  cause  of  so  many  disasters.  Our 
policy  is  to  begin  by  exterminating  the  Englisli  in 
India ;  after  that,  we  will  show  a  moderation  in  vic- 
tory which  will  secure  the  respect  and  love  of  all  our 
neighbors."  ^      His    instructions    corresponded   with 

•  M(:m.  pour  le  Comic  Lally,  by  his  son. 

^  His  views  are  stated  in  a  Memoire  in  the  MSS.  Bib.  Nat. 


436  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

these  views.  He  was  bidden  to  relieve  the  company 
from  all  its  alliances  which  had  proved  ruinous  to  its 
commerce ;  he  was  authorized  to  withdraw  the  French 
troops  from  the  Dekkan  and  to  remove  Bussy,  and  he 
was  ordered  to  expel  the  English  from  the  Coroman- 
del  coast,  that  the  Company  of  the  Indies  might  devote 
itself  to  a  peaceable  and  profitable  trade,  undisturbed 
by  foreign  rivals.^ 

Lally  found  the  extermination  of  the  English  a 
serious  enterprise;  he  disdained  to  follow  Dupleix's 
example  and  obtain  the  aid  of  the  native  powers,  and 
it  was  not  strange  that  his  efforts  resulted  in  the  final 
overthrow  of  the  French  empire  in  the  Indies. 

The  mistakes  which  he  made  as  a  commander  were 
aggravated  by  the  remissness  of  the  government  in 
giving  him  support.  Lally  had  been  promised  six 
battalions  of  troops  and  six  millions  of  money ;  when 
the  time  came  to  embark,  he  had  to  be  content  with 
four  battalions  and  four  millions.  It  was  not  always 
that  the  government  furnished  its  generals  with  even 
two  thirds  of  the  troops  which  they  were  supposed  to 
command.  In  May,  1757,  Lally  and  his  little  army 
set  sail  for  the  Indies.^  The  voyage  was  long,  even 
for  that  period,  and  it  was  one  year  lacking  four 
days  from  the  time  he  embarked  imtil  he  landed  at 
Pondicherri. 

Upon  his  arrival,  Lally  showed  the  vigdr  in  which 
he  was  never  lacking.  He  at  once  laid  siege  to  Fort 
St.  David,  an  enterprise  which  the  French  had  often 
undertaken,  and  in  which  they  had  always  failed. 
This  time  the  siege  was  carried  to  a  successful  conclu- 

*  Instructions  h  Lally. 

*  A  portion  of  his  troops  set  sail  earlier,  and  reached  Pondi- 
cherri in  September,  1757. 


THE  LOSS  OF  AN  EASTERN  EMPIRE.     437 

sion.  Lally  imparted  his  own  energy  to  the  troops 
under  his  command ;  he  worked  himself  in  the 
trenches,  and  handled  a  pick  and  a  spade  along  with 
his  men.i  On  June  2,  1758,  Fort  St.  David  surren- 
dered, and  the  fortifications  were  destroyed.  The 
career  of  the  new  commander  began  auspiciously,  but 
his  first  victory  was  also  his  last.  A  series  of  disasters 
extending  over  three  years  resulted  in  the  destruction 
of  Pondicherri,  the  surrender  of  Lally  with  all  his 
troops,  and  the  expulsion  of  the  French  from  India. 
Many  causes  contributed  to  these  disasters,  but  the 
character  of  this  brave  and  unfortunate  officer  had 
much  to  do  with  the  failure  of  his  plans.  If  he  had 
possessed  the  knowledge  of  India,  the  fertility  of 
resource,  the  skill  in  exciting  the  confidence  and  the 
support  of  subordinates,  which  was  found  in  Clive 
and  Bussy  and  Dupleix,  he  might  have  accomplished 
much,  even  with  the  resources  at  his  command.  No 
sooner  had  Fort  St.  David  surrendered,  than  Lally 
decided  on  a  measure  which  did  more  harm  to  the 
cause  than  his  victory  did  good.  When  he  advised 
the  authorities  at  Paris  as  to  the  policy  to  be  pursued 
in  a  land  which  he  had  never  seen,  he  had  denounced 
any  endeavors  to  extend  the  protection  of  France  to 
the  native  princes.  Since  then  he  had  come  to  India, 
but  he  was  a  man  who  learned  little  from  his  sur- 
roundings ;  his  views  were  as  unchangeable  regarding 
Indian  policy  as  they  were  concerning  the  divine  right 
of  the  Stuarts.  In  June,  1758,  he  sent  orders  to 
Bussy  to  withdraw  his  troops  from  the  Dekkan  and 
to  return  to  Pondicherri.  This  command  filled  Bussy 
with  consternation.  The  French  general  knew  that 
when  the  Subahdar  of  the  Dekkan  was  abandoned  by 
^  Mem.  pour  Lally,  i.  63. 


438  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

his  present  supporters,  he  would  at  once  seek  an  alli- 
ance with  the  English,  and  the  ascendency  of  France 
in  that  great  country  would  be  destroyed  by  the  mis- 
taken judgment  of  a  French  commander.  His  regret 
was  natural,  as  he  saw  the  impending  overthrow  of  a 
system  to  the  establishment  of  which  Dupleix  and 
himself  had  devoted  years  of  successful  labor ;  what 
had  been  gained  by  genius  was  to  be  frittered  away  by 
folly.  It  was  with  truth  that  he  had  written  Argen- 
son :  "  I  have  placed  kings  on  the  throne.  ...  I  have 
put  to  flight  great  armies,  and  captured  cities  by 
assault  with  a  handful  of  men.  .  .  .  Kings,  princes, 
and  rajahs  have  made  me  mediator  and  judge  of  their 
disputes.  ...  I  have  made  the  alliance  of  France 
sought  by.all  the  powers  of  the  Mogul's  empire ;  our 
friendship  has  been  purchased  at  the  price  of  vast 
domains,  and  these  advantages  the  company  will  hold 
so  long  as  it  retains  the  favor  of  the  ruler  of  the 
Dekkan."  "  If  we  abandon  that  country,"  he  added, 
"  our  power  is  gone.  .  .  .  Salabut  will  seek  the  assist- 
ance of  the  English  and  will  turn  against  us.  The 
evacuation  of  the  Dekkan  is  the  ruin  of  our  Indian 
establishment."  ^  Salabut  was  equally  dismayed  by 
the  desertion  of  the  allies  who  had  protected  him  for 
eight  years.  "  Your  monarch  has  promised  to  pro- 
tect me  against  my  enemies,"  said  the  subahdar  to  the 
French  commander.  "  I  must  have  the  support  of  a 
European  power,  and  I  must  now  solicit  the  aid  of 
the  English." 

It  was  in  vain  that  Bussy  endeavored  to  change 

Lally's  decision.     The  new  commander  was  set  in  his 

opinions,  he  was  deaf  to  arguments,  and,  in  addition 

to  this,  he  was  very  suspicious  of  liussy.     Love  of 

^  Bussy  to  Argcnson,  MSS.  de  I' Arsenal. 


THE  LOSS  OF  AN  EASTERN  EMPIRE.     439 

money  was  not  among  Lally's  faults;  he  came  to 
India  with  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  severest  self- 
sacrifice  among  men  who  were  eager  to  get  rich,  and 
he  could  not  understand  that  the  conditions  of  Indian 
society  and  politics  made  practices  excusable,  which  in 
Europe  would  have  been  highly  reprehensible.  Bussy 
had  gained  large  wealth  from  his  position  in  the  Dek- 
kan ;  it  was  clear,  therefore,  to  Lally's  mind  that  he 
was  a  corrupt  and  a  wicked  man.  If  he  argued  in  favor 
of  the  French  occupation,  it  was  because  he  wished  to 
remain  at  Aurungabad,  and  use  his  power  to  squeeze 
lakhs  of  rupees  out  of  subservient  rajahs  and  nawabs ; 
when  he  talked  of  the  advantages  for  France,  he  was 
thinking  of  the  advantages  for  himself.  He  was  al- 
ready worth  twenty  million  livres,  said  Lally,  and  if 
he  had  stayed  in  the  Dekkan,  he  would  have  made  five 
or  ten  millions  more.^  Naturally,  Bussy's  arguments 
found  no  favor  with  the  new  commander.  "  It  does 
not  matter  to  me,"  Lally  wrote  him,  "  if  a  younger 
son  disputes  the  Dekkan  with  his  older  brother,  or  if 
certain  rajahs  are  quarreling  about  certain  nawabies. 
When  I  have  exterminated  the  English  on  the  coast,  I 
can  arrange  operations  from  my  cabinet  which  will  be 
more  productive  than  those  that  have  cost  so  many 
subjects  to  the  king  and  so  many  rupees  to  the  com- 
pany." 2  Bussy  dared  not  take  the  responsibility  of 
disobedience,  and  with  a  very  ill  grace  he  led  away 
from  Aurungabad  the  little  army  which  had  won  so 
great  victories.  In  the  following  year,  Salabut  made 
a  treaty  with  the  English,  and  agreed  that  French 
auxiliaries  should  not  again  be  received  in  his  domin- 

1  Mem.  pour  Lally,  i.  2S  et  pas.    Lally's  letters  are  full  of 
complaints  against  Bussy. 

3  Lally  to  Bussy,  June  13, 1758. 


440  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

ions.  The  great  province  of  the  Dekkan  was  lost  to 
France  without  the  English  having  to  fire  a  gun. 

In  the  mean  time  Lally  pursued  his  plans  for  the 
expulsion  of  the  English,  the  cause  to  which  he  wished 
to  devote  himself  exclusively.  He  found  it  a  task  of 
some  difficulty,  and  it  became  none  the  easier  when 
he  had  contemptuously  rejected  the  aid  of  the  former 
allies  of  France.  If  the  troops  furnished  by  the  na- 
tive princes  were  of  little  value,  the  money  which 
could  be  obtained  from  them  was  indispensable.  It 
was  by  means  of  such  aid  that  Dupleix  had  been 
able  to  keep  armies  in  the  field,  with  small  assistance 
from  the  company  and  no  assistance  from  the  govern- 
ment. The  Company  of  the  Indies  had  no  resources 
with  which  it  could  prosecute  war  ;  the  general  gov- 
ernment was  always  in  financial  straits,  and  no  one 
could  expect  that  it  would  furnish  regular  and  suffi- 
cient supplies  with  which  to  carry  on  a  contest  against 
the  English  on  the  distant  coast  of  the  Coromandel ; 
the  resources  for  war  in  India  had  to  be  derived  from 
India  itself ;  without  the  succor  of  the  native  princes, 
said  Bussy,  it  was  impossible  to  provide  for  the  needs 
of  the  army. 

The  scanty  supplies  with  which  Lally  had  been  fur- 
nished were  soon  exhausted ;  he  had  brought  with  him 
four  million  liAn*es,  and  the  expenses  of  the  war  were  a 
million  a  month.  Immediately  after  the  surrender  of 
Fort  St.  David,  he  was  confronted  with  the  problem 
of  an  empty  treasury,  and  in  this  dilemma  it  was  sug- 
gested that  he  might  raise  the  needed  funds  by  levy- 
ing contribution  on  the  Kajah  of  Tanjore.  Some  years 
before,  that  prince  had  executed  a  bond  to  Chun  da 
Sahib  for  fifty-five  lakhs  of  rupees,  and  this  had  been 
transferred  to  the  company.     The  claim  was  stale,  the 


THE  LOSS  OF  AN  EASTERN  EMPIRE.     441 

debtor  had  no  inclination  to  pay  any  of  it,  and  was 
unable  to  pay  it  in  full.  But  it  was  only  necessary  to 
threaten  the  rajah,  said  Lally's  advisers,  and  he  would 
promptly  disgorge  enough  to  support  the  army  for  a 
year.  Impelled  by  his  financial  needs,  Lally  aban- 
doned his  plans  for  the  siege  of  Madras  and  marched 
to  Tanjore.  The  expedition  resulted  in  total  failure. 
Lally  was  ignorant  of  the  country  and  of  its  resources, 
he  received  few  supplies  from  Pondicherri,  and  his 
soldiers  suffered  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  He  was 
unfamiliar  also  with  the  wiles  of  Indian  politics,  and 
the  rajah  fooled  him  with  promises  which  he  repudi- 
ated as  soon  as  he  was  assured  of  English  support. 
After  an  unsuccessful  campaign  of  two  months,  Lally 
abandoned  the  siege  of  Tanjore. 

His  needs  were  still  more  pressing  after  this  unsuc- 
cessful expedition,  but  he  resolved  to  delay  no  longer 
before  attempting  the  siege  of  Madras.  In  this  he 
was  certainly  right ;  Madras  was  the  most  important 
English  possession  on  the  Coromandel  coast  ;  its  cap- 
ture would  have  gone  far  towards  realizing  his  dream 
of  expelling  the  English  from  the  peninsula,  and  if 
his  associates  had  shared  the  zeal  of  their  commander, 
it  would  not  have  been  impossible. 

For  success  he  needed  men  and  money  and  faithful 
lieutenants,  and  he  was  scantily  supplied  with  any  of 
the  three.  It  was  only  a  sporadic  exhibition  of  ac- 
tivity which  led  the  home  government  to  send  Lally 
to  India,  and  to  announce  its  intention  of  restoring 
French  influence  in  that  country.  Its  energy  was 
exhausted  by  the  effort ;  it  furnished  Lally  with  no 
further  aid,  and  left  him  to  carry  on  the  war  against 
the  English  as  best  he  could.  The  expenses  of  the 
war  in  Europe,  wrote  the  comptroller  general,  did  not 


442  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

allow  the  king  to  furnish  any  further  assistance  to  the 
East  India  Company,  and  it  must  now  rely  on  its  own 
resources.^  It  was  in  vain  that  Lally  turned  to  the 
company  for  aid,  after  the  government  had  formally 
notified  him  of  its  desertion.  "  For  two  years,"  said 
the  authorities  of  Pondicherri,  "  we  have  been  using 
every  expedient  to  maintain  ourselves.  .  .  .  We  have 
exhausted  all  our  resources,  we  are  absolutely  power- 
less and  can  do  nothing  to  help  you."  ^  Even  the 
forces,  which  might  have  been  utilized  for  the  war  in 
India,  were  paralyzed  by  a  vicious  system.  The  fleet 
sent  out  under  Ache  was  hardly  inferior  to  that  of  the 
English ;  its  assistance  was  indispensable  for  Lally's 
success,  but  he  was  unable  to  obtain  it."  The  govern- 
ment had  given  the  absolute  command  of  the  squadron 
to  Ache  ;  if  he  saw  fit  to  assist  Lally,  he  could  do  so  ; 
if  he  was  unwilling,  the  commander  of  the  land  forces 
had  no  right  to  control  his  action.  But  the  naval 
commander  was  one  of  the  inefficient  marine  officers 
who  insured  the  victory  of  the  English  on  the  sea, 
from  the  Gulf  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  coast  of 
Coromandel ;  if  he  had  surrendered  his  ships  to  the 
enemy,  he  could  hardly  have  done  more  harm  than 
was  caused  by  his  remissness  and  timidity.  The  co- 
operation of  the  fleet  was  necessary  for  the  capture 
of  Madras,  and  Ache  refused  to  cooperate.  He  had 
already  encountered  the  English  squadron,  and  al- 
though the  one  side  had  suffered  almost  as  much  as 
the  other,  he  was  discouraged  by  the  results  and 
resolved  to  return  forthwith  to  the  Isle  of  France.  It 
was  in  vain  that  Lally  remonstrated  ;  Ache  sailed 
away  and  left  the  English  in  peaceable  possession  of 

'  Boulongne  to  Lally,  February  6,  1758. 

'  Letters  of  October  8, 1758  ;  March  3,  1759. 


THE  LOSS  OF  AN  EASTERN  EMPIRE.     443 

the  Indian  seas.  Not  disheartened  by  all  these  obsta- 
cles, in  December,  1758,  Lally  laid  siege  to  Madras ; 
he  captured  the  "  black  town,"  and  if  the  garrison 
had  received  no  reinforcements,  the  city  might  at  last 
have  been  forced  to  surrender.  On  the  16th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1759,  ships  were  seen  approaching  in  the  dis- 
tance. It  was  uncertain  whether  they  were  French 
or  English,  though  one  who  knew  the  characters  of 
the  commanders  might  have  been  sure  which  would 
come  at  the  hour  of  need.  The  vessels  of  Admiral 
Pococke  sailed  up  to  the  town,  and  on  the  following 
day  the  siege  was  raised.^ 

So  bitter  was  the  hatred  towards  Lally  among  the 
French  residents  that  his  repulse  excited  exultation 
rather  than  regret.  Lally  had  come  to  India  resolved 
to  check  the  corruption  which  was  prevalent,  and  he 
made  such  efforts  as  he  could  to  accomplish  this  end. 
The  French  in  India,  like  the  English,  sought  some 
compensation  for  residence  in  a  distant  land,  and  they 
accumulated  fortunes  by  any  means  in  their  power. 
The  evil  was  a  serious  one,  but  it  was  a  necessary 
result  of  the  manner  in  which  both  of  the  East  India 
companies  were  then  administered.  It  needed  the 
strong  hand  of  Clive,  at  a  time  when  India  was  at 
peace,  and  with  all  the  prestige  of  his  success,  to 
reform  the  administration  of  the  English  Company. 
When  war  was  waging,  and  every  effort  was  needed 
to  resist  a  powerful  enemy,  it  was  an  unfortunate  time 
for  Lally  to  attempt  such  reforms.  Besides  this  he 
had  not  the  prestige  of  success ;  he  was  proving  him- 
self an  unfortunate  instead  of  a  victorious  leader,  and 
even  if  he  was  not  responsible  for  these  defeats,  ho 
had  to  bear  the  blame.  He  ^as,  moreover,  lacking  in 
*  Journal  of  siege,  by  John  Call,  engineer-in-chief. 


444  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

the  ability  to  gain  friends,  and  was  successful  only 
in  exciting  animosities,  and  he  poured  out  his  com- 
plaints in  a  way  that  increased  the  ill  will  of  the 
community  in  which  he  was  thrown.  "  I  had  rather 
command  the  Caffres  of  Madagascar,"  he  said,  "  than 
to  remain  in  that  Sodom  of  Pondicherri ;  if  the  fire 
of  heaven  does  not  destroy  it,  that  of  the  English 
soon  will."  1  "  I  want  to  leave  Asia,"  he  wrote  Bussy, 
"  even  if  I  could  stay  here  and  conquer  the  terrestrial 
paradise."  ^ 

Though  Lally's  purposes  were  always  commenda- 
ble, his  conduct  was  often  injudicious.  During  the 
siege  of  Fort  St.  David,  he  asked  the  authorities  to 
furnish  means  of  transportation,  and  they  were  slow 
in  responding.  In  a  rage,  he  went  to  Pondicherri, 
and  made  a  forced  requisition  of  laborers,  without 
regard  to  class  or  position.  Sudra  and  pariah,  priest 
and  Brahmin,  were  harnessed  to  the  cannon  side  by 
side.  Such  an  act  was  revolting  to  the  caste  feelings, 
that  were  strong  in  India :  it  was  as  offensive  to  popu- 
lar prejudices  as  if  the  governor  of  Paris  had  ordered 
dukes  to  be  yoked  with  the  hangman  and  set  at  work 
tearing  down  Notre  Dame.^  Lally  became  odious  to 
the  native  population,  as  he  already  was  to  the  Euro- 
peans. He  mistrusted  all  his  officers,  and  Bussy,  the 
most  prominent  of  them,  whom  he  had  always  disliked, 
he  now  abhorred.  "He  is  the  falsest  of  men,  the 
greatest  liar,  the  greatest  pillager,  of  whom  you  have 
ever  heard,"  he  wrote.  "  Of  all  the  malefactors  con- 
demned to  be  broken  on  the  wheel  during  a  hundred 
years,  there  is  not  one  whose  crimes  approach  those  of 

*  See  Mem.  pour  LaUy,  ii.  86. 

•  Lally  to  Bassy,  April  28,  1759. 

'  Remark  cited  in  Hamont,  La  Jin  d*un  empire^  86,  7. 


THE  LOSS   OF  AN  EASTERN  EMPIRE.     445 

Bussy."  ^  Lally  was  never  reticent,  and  the  complaints 
in  which  he  indulged  were  bruited  abroad  in  the  com- 
munity. Naturally,  Bussy  did  not  show  himself  a 
zealous  lieutenant  of  a  general  who  held  this  opinion 
of  him ;  like  most  of  his  associates,  he  continued  to 
serve  with  a  half-concealed  desire  for  the  defeat  of  a 
commander  whom  no  one  loved. 

The  common  soldiers  had  still  more  substantial 
grounds  for  discontent,  for  which  Lally  was  in  no 
way  responsible.  He  had  neither  money  to  pay  them 
nor  sufficient  food  to  give  them ;  as  a  result  there  were 
frequent  mutinies,  and  some  of  the  men  deserted  to 
the  English.  In  the  service  of  England,  they  said, 
they  were  sure  of  food  and  of  their  wages,  and  they 
were  unwilling  longer  to  go  hungry  for  the  cause  of 
France.  In  1759,  the  soldiers,  so  their  officers  re- 
ported, had  neither  shirts,  nor  shoes,  nor  stockings, 
nor  provisions,  and  this  was  the  chronic  condition  of 
the  French  army  during  the  last  two  years  of  the 
struggle  with  England  for  the  possession  of  India.^ 

Ache's  refusal  to  let  the  fleet  assist  in  the  siego 
of  Madras  was  followed  by  an  almost  total  deser- 
tion of  the  French  interests  in  India.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1759,  nearly  thirteen  months  after  he  had  sailed 
away  from  Pondicherri,  his  fleet  reappeared  on  the 
Coromandel  coast.  It  brought  some  insignificant 
reinforcements,  a  little  money,  and  a  few  soldiers. 
Having  done  this.  Ache  regarded  his  duties  as  fvd- 
filled.  He  had  eleven  vessels  under  his  command  and 
over  seven  thousand  men  ;  it  was  the  most  formida- 
ble squadron  that  had  been  seen  in  the  Indian  seas. 
He  encountered  the  English  fleet,  but  was  unsuccess- 
ful, though  superior  in  ships  and  cannon.  Although 
1  Lally  to  Silhouette.  ^  Mem.  pour  Lally,  i.  172. 


446  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

defeated,  he  had  suffered  no  loss  which  compelled  him 
to  abandon  India  to  the  enemy,  but  it  was  enough  to 
discourage  so  faint-hearted  a  commander.  No  sooner 
had  he  anchored  at  Pondicherri,  than  he  wrote  Lally 
that  he  oould  only  remain  two  days.  "  I  must  even 
sacrifice  the  pleasure  I  shoidd  have  in  meeting  you," 
he  added.^  The  desertion  t)f  the  fleet  left  Pondicherri 
in  danger  of  capture,  and  the  officials  of  the  company 
joined  with  Lally  in  a  protest  against  such  conduct. 
"We  protest  against  your  departure,"  their  official 
resolution  read,  "  and  we  declare  you  responsible  for 
the  loss  of  this  colony.  We  will  send  our  complaints 
to  the  king  and  demand  justice."  ^  But  nothing  could 
affect  Ache.  "  I  have  been  beaten,  gentlemen,"  he 
answered  the  deputation,  "  and  I  shall  leave."  ^  He 
was  also  afraid  of  the  monsoon,  that  terror  of  timid  sail- 
ors, and  he  dared  not  encounter  the  autumnal  storms 
on  this  coast.  He  did  indeed  promise  that  he  would 
return,  and  that  he  would  never  abandon  Pondicheni,* 
but  the  promise  was  not  kept.  During  the  sixteen 
months  that  elapsed  before  Pondicherri  surrendered 
to  the  English,  the  French  fleet  never  reappeared  ;  in 
twenty-nine  months,  it  spent  twelve  days  on  the  Coro- 
niandel  coast,  where  alone  it  could  be  of  any  service.^ 
The  superiority  of  the  English  fleets,  not  in  numbers, 
but  in  the  ability  and  courage  with  which  they  were 
commanded,  was  an  important  factor  in  securing  the 
victory  of  England  in  India.  As  Lally  bitterly  said, 
**  The  English  knovf  no  seasons  in  India ;  their  fleet 

1  Ach^  to  Lally,  September  5,  1759. 
'  Protestation  de  Septembre  17,  1759. 
'  Mem.  pour  Lally,  i.  180. 

*  Letter  of  October  1,  1759. 

*  Mem.  pour  Lally,  i.  185. 


THE  LOSS  OF  AN  EASTERN  EMPIRE.     447 

blockaded  Pondicherri  in  winter  as  well  as  in  summer.'* 
For  three  years  the  English  squadron  never  left  the 
coast,  but  during  all  the  years  of  war  between  France 
and  England,  the  French  did  not  have  a  naval  com- 
mander who  possessed  courage  enough  to  spend  the 
autumn  and  winter  in  the  Indian  seas.^  It  was  not 
that  they  were  afraid  of  their  persons,  but  they  were 
afraid  of  their  ships ;  in  the  courage  which  came  from 
experience  on  the  sea,  and  confidence  in  their  ability 
to  manoeuvre  a  fleet,  they  were  as  a  rule  far  inferior  to 
the  English  commanders.  Ache  was  a  courageous  man 
in  battle,  but  a  coward  in  exposing  his  fleet  to  the  risk 
of  battle.  It  could  be  said  of  him,  as  of  a  far  better  offi- 
cer, he  was  brave  in  his  heart  and  a  coward  in  his  head. 
The  fleet  deserted  the  cause,  the  soldiers  were  ill 
paid  and  mutinous,  and  the  position  of  the  French 
grew  steadily  worse.  On  January  22,  1760,  the  de- 
cisive battle  was  fought  at  Wandewash.  LaUy  had 
about  fourteen  hundred  Europeans  under  his  com- 
mand ;  the  English,  under  Colonel  Coote,  were  about 
nineteen  hundred  strong,  and  they  had  some  advan- 
tage in  the  number  of  their  native  auxiliaries.^  The 
forces  were  insignificant  compared  with  those  which 
met  on  the  battlefields  of  Europe,  but  the  issues  were 
momentous.  A  decisive  victory  might  have  secured 
French  ascendency,  a  disastrous  defeat  was  sure  to  end 

^  Cause  de  la  perte  des  Indes,  13;  Copie  des  lettres  par  le 
Comte  d' Ache,  31.  An  interesting  account  of  tlie  naval  contest 
between  the  French  and  English  in  the  Indian  seas  is  found  in 
Mahan's  valuable  book,  Influence  of  the  Sea  Power  in  History. 
The  Memoire  pour  Ache  and  his  correspondence  furnish  no  satis- 
factory explanation  of  his  shameful  conduct. 

2  There  is  much  dispute  as  to  the  nund)ei's  engaged,  but  those 
stated  are  probably  approximately  right,  and  are  those  adopted  by 
Colonel  Malleson  in  his  French  in  India. 


448  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

their  efforts  to  hold  India  against  the  English,  the 
destiny  of  a  great  country  was  involved  in  the  contest 
of  a  few  thousand  men. 

The  battle  was  stubbornly  contested,  and  Lally,  as 
always,  was  brave,  unfortunate,  and  ill  served.  He 
led  the  charge  of  the  cavalry  in  person,  but  the  men 
were  so  ill  affected  that  only  after  much  delay  would 
they  follow  their  general.  The  explosion  of  a  tumbril 
killed  and  wounded  eighty  of  Lally's  men,  and  threw 
the  others  into  confusion.  At  last  the  victory  of  the 
English  was  complete,  and  it  was  decisive.  Arcot, 
Karical,  and  other  places  held  by  the  French  were 
reduced  one  after  another ;  in  September,  Coote  laid 
siege  to  Pondicherri,  and  it  was  blockaded  by  land 
and  sea.  The  dissensions  among  the  French  became 
more  bitter  as  their  condition  grew  worse.  The  ene- 
mies of  Lally  charged  him  with  being  a  traitor,  and 
said  that  he  wanted  to  sell  the  city  to  the  English. 
In  return  he  erected  gibbets  about  the  town,  on  which 
he  declared  he  would  hang  those  who  disobeyed  his 
orders  and  fomented  disturbance.  Even  if  the  gar- 
rison had  been  zealous,  instead  of  discordant,  the  fall 
of  the  town  was  certain  unless  Ache's  fleet  came  to  its 
relief.  But  Ache  remained  quietly  at  the  Isle  of 
France,  and  after  four  months  of  siege,  starvation 
compelled  Pondicherri  to  yield.  The  inhabitants  had 
eaten  the  horses  and  camels,  the  dogs  and  the  rats, 
before  Lally  would  consent  to  yield.  Four  ounces  of 
rice  and  two  of  bad  flour  were  the  daily  allowance  for 
a  soldier,  and  rats  were  selling  at  twenty-four  francs 
apiece,  when  on  the  16th  of  January,  1761,  Pondi- 
cherri surrendered  to  the  English.^     Lally  and  eleven 

*  Mem.  pour  Lally,  i.  279.  For  the  siege  of  Pondicherri,  and 
the  battle  of  Wandewash,  see  also  the  JourruU  of  Lawrence  and 
Orme. 


THE  LOSS  OF  AN  EASTERN  EMPIRE.     449 

hundred  soldiers,  the  remains  of  the  French  army  in 
India,  became  prisoners  of  war,  and  Pondicherri  was 
razed  to  the  ground. 

The  destruction  of  Pondicherri  marked  the  end  of 
the  power  of  France  in  the  East  Indies ;  the  scatter- 
ing possessions  wliich  the  French  still  held  were  cap- 
tured without  difficulty;  the  French  and  not  the 
English,  to  use  Lally's  phrase,  were  exterminated 
from  the  Coromandel  coast.  By  the  treaty  of  Paris, 
Pondicherri,  Chandarnagar,  and  some  other  ports  were 
restored  to  France,  and  they  are  still  French  posses- 
sions. But  they  have  remained  places  of  little  impor- 
tance, doing  a  small  trade,  contributing  little  to  the 
wealth  of  France,  and  exercising  no  influence  on  the 
development  of  India.  Since  1761,  France  cannot  be 
called  even  the  rival  of  England  in  the  East  Indies. 

It  is  not  without  a  certain  satisfaction  that  we  read 
of  the  final  extinction  of  the  French  Company  of  the 
East  Indies,  whose  affairs  had  been  conducted  with 
such  short-sighted  greed,  and  which,  as  Voltaire  said, 
had  carried  on  war  and  commerce  with  equal  folly. 
Its  Indian  trade  was  annihilated  by  the  war,  and  it 
did  not  again  become  important  after  the  treaty  of 
Paris.  The  profits  of  the  tobacco  monopoly,  which 
it  had  obtained  in  the  days  of  Law,  enabled  it  to 
struggle  on  for  a  few  years,  but  it  could  not  continue 
to  carry  on  business  unless  it  received  important  as- 
sistance from  the  government,  and  the  government 
decided  that  nothing  in  the  experience  of  the  past 
justified  it  in  furnishing  further  aid  to  a  bankrupt 
and  mismanaged  corporation.  In  1769,  the  trade 
with  the  posts  then  held  by  France  in  India  was 
thrown  open  to  all  citizens,  and  soon  after  the  Com- 
pany of    the  East  Indies,  an  enterprise   devised   by 


450  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Richelieu  and  organized  by  Colbert,  which  had  re- 
eeivetl  the  patronage  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  been  part 
of  Law's  scheme  for  revolutionizing  the  trade  of  the 
world,  ceased  to  exist.^ 

The  last  years  of  French  occupation  in  India  were 
inglorious  for  the  nation  and  discreditable  to  the  gov- 
ernment ;  they  furnished  the  occasion,  also,  for  a 
judicial  murder,  which  is  a  reproach  to  French  jui'is- 
pnidence.  Lally's  administration  was  unfortunate, 
and  his  conduct  not  free  from  blame.  If  his  mistakes 
had  cost  him  the  favor  of  the  court,  if  his  hopes  of  a 
marshal's  baton  had  been  disappointed,  he  would  have 
had  no  cause  for  complaint.  Other  French  generals 
had  indeed  made  far  more  serious  mistakes  than  any 
of  which  Lally  was  guilty,  and  they  still  enjoyed  all 
the  honors  that  the  crown  could  bestow.  The  Duke 
of  Richelieu  should  have  been  court-martialed :  he 
was  rewarded  with  an  important  government  and  the 
lifelong  favor  of  the  king.  Soubise  subjected  the 
French  to  one  of  the  most  disgraceful  defeats  in  their 
history,  yet  Mme.  de  Pompadour  secured  him  a  place 
in  the  ministry  and  a  pension  of  fifty  thousand  francs 
as  a  compensation  for  incapacity.  But  continued  de- 
feats both  in  the  East  and  the  West  had  irritated 
the  public,  and  a  victim  was  demanded.  India  had 
been  lost  as  the  result  of  negligence  and  bad  judg- 
ment extending  over  many  years ;  if  the  punishment 
hatl  been  properly  awarded,  it  woidd  have  been  vis- 
ited ujion  an  administration  whicli  had  been  indif- 
ferent to  the  national  honor  and  the  national  j)ros- 
perity.  But  Lally  was  the  connnander  when  Pon- 
dicherri  surrendei*ed^  and  the  French  officials  united 
in  holding  him  responsible  for  all  the  misfortunes 
>  Edicts,  August,  17G9,  Fcbruiiry,  1775. 


THE  LOSS  OF  AN  EASTERN  EMPIRE.     451 

that  had  befallen  the  colony.  The  unfortunate  general 
was  released  on  his  parole  and  returned  to  France, 
and  on  his  arrival  he  was  greeted  by  a  formidable 
outcry.  Friends  advised  him  to  fly  before  an  irri- 
tated popular  sentiment,  but  he  said  that  any  inves- 
tigation must  result  in  vindicating  his  honor,  and  he 
faced  his  enemies  with  his  wonted  courasre. 

He  was  thrown  into  the  Bastille,  and  five  years 
elapsed  before  judgment  was  rendered  in  his  case. 
Innumerable  charges  were  brought  against  him,  and 
they  ranged  in  gravity  from  betraying  Pondicherri  to 
using  bad  language.  The  course  of  the  prosecution 
showed  how  the  rules  of  French  jurisprudence  might 
result  in  gross  injustice.  If  the  common  law  some- 
times excludes  evidence  that  might  properly  influence 
an  intelligent  mind,  the  laxity  of  the  French  court 
led  to  a  worse  failure  of  justice.  A  Jesuit  priest, 
called  Father  Lavaur,  had  been  an  active  intriguer 
in  Indian  politics.  He  had  kept,  as  was  said,  two 
diaries,  one  favorable  to  Lally  and  the  other  accusing 
him  of  every  crime.  The  priest  died,  and  the  diary 
hostile  to  Lally  was  received  in  evidence  as  proof  of 
the  facts  which  it  alleged,  and  it  was  the  document 
which  had  most  weight  with  the  judges.^  Other  tes- 
timony, by  which  an  officer  was  to  be  convicted  of 
high  treason,  was  of  a  similar  nature.  One  witness 
testified  that  it  was  a  matter  of  public  notoriety  at 
Pondicherri  that  Lally  had  ordered  two  bastions  to 
be  blown  up,  and  that  his  engineer  had  refused  to 
obey  such  a  command.  Another  said  he  had  been 
told  by  many  parties  that  Lully  sold  the  stores  of 
the    garrison    for   his   own    benefit.*^      In   truth,  the 

1  Mem.  pour  Lally. 

2  lb.,  ii.  205,  6. 


462  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

charges  of  treason  and  corruption  were  absurd,  and 
were  not  supported  by  a  grain  of  credible  evidence. 
Lally  had  devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  France  in 
India  with  the  bravery  and  the  self-sacrifice  that  he 
had  always  shown  in  a  military  career  extending  over 
fifty  year^  ;  if  he  had  made  mistakes  as  a  commander, 
it  was  for  a  court-martial  of  officers  to  consider  them. 
Instead  of  that,  judges  of  the  Parliament,  who  hardly 
knew  a  culverin  from  a  carabine,  investigated  Lally's 
conduct  as  a  soldier ;  they  assumed  to  decide  whether 
he  had  placed  his  cannon  judiciously  at  the  siege  of 
Madras,  or  manoeuvred  his  troops  properly  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Wandewash. 

Three  years  were  occupied  in  these  investigations, 
a«d  the  judges  still  hesitated  as  to  their  verdict.  But 
popular  clamor  decided  Lally's  fate ;  he  was  at  last 
found  guilty  of  exactions,  of  abuse  of  authority,  and 
of  having  betrayed  the  interests  of  the  king,  and  he 
was  condemned  to  death. 

It  was  with  amazement  that  an  officer  who  had  ex- 
posed his  life  on  fifty  battlefields  received  a  sentence 
which  condemned  him  for  having  betrayed  the  inter- 
ests of  his  country.  Louis  XV.  was  asked  to  remit 
the  sentence,  and  there  was  never  a  more  proper  occa- 
sion for  royal  clemency.  During  all  his  life,  the  king 
had  shown  himself  indifferent  to  the  corruption  of 
officials  and  the  inefficiency  of  generals,  but  on  this 
(Vfasion  he  resolved  to  show  a  Spartan  sternness.  Tlic 
rigor  with  which  the  English  had  treated  Admiral 
Byng  probably  influenced  his  conduct,  and  having 
been  lenient  to  gross  offenders,  he  was  now  inexorable 
towards  a  man  who  had  been  unfortunate.^ 

^  It  was  said  tliat  Louis  regarded  the  sentence  of  Lally  as 
ii.ijust,  but  was  told  that  ho  must  show  no  leniency.     If  so,  it 


THE  LOSS  OF  AN  EASTERN  EMPIRE.     453 

The  Injustice  of  Lally's  sentence  was  aggravated  by 
the  brutality  with  which  he  was  treated.  He  was  not 
even  allowed  the  punishment  of  an  officer  and  a  gen- 
tleman ;  the  cross  of  the  order  of  St.  Louis  was  torn 
from  his  breast,  he  was  insulted  by  brutal  jailers,  a 
gag  was  put  in  his  mouth  as  was  done  with  the  lowest 
offenders,  he  was  placed  on  a  cart  like  a  common 
malefactor,  and  was  thus  taken  to  the  Place  de  la 
Greve,  where  a  clumsy  executioner  struck  off  his  head 
after  many  blows.^  So  ignominious  a  fate  for  a  gal- 
lant officer  excited  no  popular  sympathy.  "  Lally  died 
like  a  madman,"  wrote  Mme.  du  Deffand.  "  The  peo- 
ple were  pleased  with  all  that  made  his  punishment 
ignominious :  the  cart,  the  handcuffs,  and  the  gag. 
.  .  .  He  was  a  great  rascal,"  she  added,  "  and  besides 
he  was  very  disagreeable."  ^ 

Years  afterward,  under  the  reign  of  Louis  XVL, 
an  effort  was  made  to  annul  this  iniquitous  sentence. 
Lally's  son,  Lally  Tollendal,  himself  destined  to  a 
long  and  honorable  career  in  the  service  of  humanity, 
of  literature,  and  of  liberal  government,  applied  to  the 
royal  council  to  annul  a  decree  which  was  a  reproach 
to  the  administration  of  the  law.  Voltaire  lent  the 
aid  of  a  pen,  which  was  so  often  employed  in  the  cause 
of  righting  the  wrong  and  of  relieving  the  oppressed. 
These  efforts  were  successful.  In  1778,  by  a  unani- 
mous vote,  the  unjust  decree  of  17GG  was  set  aside 
and  annulled ;  but  this  tardy  vindication  came  too 
late  to  benefit  the  unfortunate  victim  of  a  judicial 
murder. 

was  .another  occasion  when  the  kiiip^  allowed  bis  natural  good 
iudpnient  to  be  overiulod  by  had  advice. 

^  Lally  was  execnted  May  *.),  17G0. 

2  Mme.  du  Dell'aud  to  Walpole. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   EEIGN   OF   MME.    DE   POMPADOUB. 

*' During  the  nineteen  years  of  my  reign,"  Mme.  de 
Pompadour  once  said,  "  the  expenses  of  my  table  were 
three  and  a  half  million  livres."  Even  if  the  word 
was  used  by  inadvertence,  there  was  a  long  period  in 
which  one  could  justly  say  that  Mme.  de  Pompadour 
reigned  in  Prance ;  she  controlled  the  conduct  of  the 
king,  she  dictated  the  choice  of  ministers,  she  decided 
the  policy  of  the  state.  It  was  in  the  years  of  peace 
following  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Austrian  Suc- 
cession that  the  power  and  glory  of  the  favorite  were 
at  their  height;  it  was  at  this  time  that  she  ceased 
to  be  the  king's  mistress  to  become  his  confidential 
adviser,  his  prime  minister  without  the  title,  and  that 
she  exercised  her  greatest  influence  on  the  sovereign 
and  on  society. 

If  her  position  seemed  a  brilliant  one  t^^  those  who 
saw  in  her  the  arbiter  of  fashion  and  of  the  policy  of 
the  government,  no  ambitious  statesman  found  his 
place  more  full  of  care  and  anxiety  than  this  beauti- 
ful and  frivolous  woman.  At  the  beginning,  Louis 
had  been  attracted  by  the  beauty  of  the  young  bour- 
geoise,  but  his  affections  were  never  strong ;  only  by 
constantly  amusing  the  king  could  the  favorite  retain 
her  influence,  and  Louis  XV.  was  one  of  the  hardest 
men  in  the  world  to  amuse.  During  all  his  life,  he 
probably  suffered  more  from  ennui  than  any  other 
man   in  Europe.     The  explanation  was  simple,  and 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     455 

was  found  in  the  indolence  and  selfishness  of  his  char- 
acter ;  his  defects  brought  their  own  punishment ;  ho 
was  interested  in  nothing  and  he  cared  for  no  one, 
and,  therefore,  he  was  bored  by  everytliing  and  every- 
body. 

Mme.  de  Chateauroux  sought  to  induce  him  to  play 
some  part  in  life ;  she  incited  him  to  lead  his  army,  to 
be  a  man  among  men.  Her  successor,  with  better 
judgment,  made  no  such  demands  on  the  king;  she 
knew  that,  sooner  or  later,  any  exertion  would  annoy 
him,  and  she  decided,  more  wisely  for  her  own  inter- 
ests, to  devote  her  energies  to  keeping  the  sovereign 
amused.  For  such  an  effort  she  had  uncommon  re- 
sources ;  with  natural  taste,  some  talent,  and  an  ac- 
tive mind,  Mme.  de  Pompadour  not  only  beguiled 
the  weary  hours  of  a  bored  king,  but  she  exercised 
on  many  of  the  arts  an  influence  not  undeserving  of 
attention. 

For  the  stage  the  favorite  had  alike  inclination  and 
talent,  and  by  her  skill  as  an  actress  she  had  excited 
the  admiration  of  poets  and  farmers-general,  before 
she  was  admitted  to  the  society  of  princes  and  dukes. 
She  now  resolved  to  organize  a  theatre  which  might 
help  to  amuse  a  king  weary  of  life,  and  which  would 
furnish  an  opportunity  for  displaying  her  own  charms 
in  her  new  surroundings.  In  1747,  her  theatre  opened 
its  doors  with  a  representation  of  Tartuffe,  and  during 
the  six  years  of  its  existence  it  was  an  object  of  more 
interest  to  the  king  and  the  court  than  the  condition 
of  the  French  marine  or  the  growth  of  the  French 
colonies. 

At  first  the  room  was  so  small  that  it  would  not 
seat  an  audience  of  over  forty,  and  the  most  illustri- 
ous  personages  often   asked   in  vain  for   admission. 


466  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Afterwards  the  theatre  was  enlarged  so  as  to  accom- 
modate more  spectators,  but  the  opportunity  of  wit- 
nessing a  representation  was  always  much  sought  for. 
If  it  was  an  honor  to  be  allowed  to  witness  the  per- 
formance, it  was  a  still  greater  distinction  to  take  part 
in  it.  This  privilege,  however,  the  manager  wisely 
accorded  oidy  to  merit ;  the  actors  were  indeed  persons 
of  the  highest  rank :  the  dukes  of  Nivernais  and  Ayen 
and  Valliere,  the  Duchess  of  Brancas,  the  Countess 
of  Pons,  were  among  the  stars  of  the  troupe,  but  to 
become  a  member  it  was  necessary  to  have  talent  as 
well  as  pedigree.  Even  the  parts  of  the  supernumer- 
aries were  in  great  demand,  and  as  these  personages 
had  nothing  to  do,  claims  other  than  artistic  merit 
were  recognized.  A  cabinet  minister  promised  the 
position  of  lieutenant  to  a  relative  of  the  favorite's 
femme  de  chambre  if  she  could  obtain  for  his  son  the 
role  of  the  police  officer  in  a  representation  of  Tartuffe. 
As  the  officer  had  only  a  few  lines  to  recite,  Mme.  de 
Pompadour  was  willing  to  please  her  attendant ;  the 
minister's  son  was  more  profuse  in  his  gratitude  than 
if  he  had  been  made  a  duke,  and  the  needy  relative  at 
once  received  his  promotion.^ 

There  was  plenty  of  histrionic  talent  to  be  found  at 
Versailles,  and  the  career  of  a  courtier  was  a  good 
training  for  the  stage ;  he  who  all  his  life  played  a 
part  at  Versailles  could  easily  play  a  part  for  an  hour 
at  Mme.  de  Pompadour's  theatre,  and  the  troupe  of 
the  "  Petits  Cabinets  "  was  by  no  means  to  be  despised 

'  Mme.  dn  Hansset  conducted  this  intrigfne  for  one  of  her 
relatives,  and  has  g^ven  an  account  of  it  in  her  memoirs.  The 
Marquis  of  Voyer,  son  of  the  Count  of  Argenson,  was  the  per- 
son who  thus  procured  the  privilege  of  appearing  in  Mme.  de 
Fompadour's  theatre. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     457 

even  by  professionals.  Among  them  all  the  favorite 
was  preeminent.  She  had  unusual  talent  as  an  ac- 
tress, and  in  many  roles  could  have  acquitted  herself 
creditably  at  the  Franc^ais ;  she  had  also  a  pleasant 
voice,  and  sang  agreeably  in  the  light  operas  that  were 
often  performed ;  in  every  play  she  was  sure  to  have 
the  leading  part,  and  she  deserved  it.  She  was  Urania 
and  Venus  and  Galatea ;  she  was  a  ravishing  Colette, 
a  delightful  Constance,  a  pleasing  Lucile ;  she  de- 
lighted the  audience  by  the  perfection  with  which  she 
rendered  the  part  of  an  artless  and  innocent  country 
maiden ;  she  did  well  even  in  the  role  of  a  vestal 
virgin.  Her  dresses  were  always  an  artistic  triumph, 
and  so  was  her  acting ;  she  had  good  taste,  and  she 
.  had  the  treasury  of  France  with  which  to  gratify  it ; 
as  Venus  she  appeared  in  a  daxzling  combination  of 
blue  and  silver,  a  dress  worthy  of  the  gods.  The 
king  sat  in  the  front  row ;  at  his  right  was  the  queen, 
who  watched  her  victorious  rival  with  her  usual  amia- 
bility ;  the  queen  was  arrayed  in  a  dingy  toilette,  which 
made  her  look  old  and  even  less  attractive  than  she. 
was  by  nature ;  the  contrast  between  virtue  and  vice 
was  all  in  favor  of  the  latter.  "  You  are  the  most 
charming  woman  in  France,"  said  the  king  to  the 
favorite  at  the  close  of  one  of  these  performances,  and 
so  she  undoubtedly  was. 

Mme.  de  Pompadour  could  act  and  sing  and  dance 
with  equal  skill,  and  she  did  her  utmost  to  excite  the 
admiration  of  an  audience  more  illustrious  than  gath- 
ered at  any  other  theatre,  and  to  amuse  the  bored 
man  for  whom  all  her  arts  were  displayed.  "  The 
mistress  of  the  king  has  become  a  dancer  and  a 
leaper,"  said  indignant  pamphleteers  ;  "  she  is  a  mod- 
ern Herodias;"  but  the  voice  of  such  protests  did 


468  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

not  disturb  the  audience  at  the  theatre  of  the  "  Petits 
Cabinets."  i 

Mme.  de  Pompadour  won  her  greatest  triumphs  on 
the  stage,  but  she  interested  herself  in  other  fields. 
She  was  sincerely  fond  of  art ;  if  her  taste  was  not 
severe,  it  was  better  than  that  of  most  of  her  con- 
temporaries ;  whoever  had  a  fine  jewel,  a  choice  en- 
graving, a  magnificent  watch,  presented  it  to  the 
critical  judgment  of  the  favorite  ;  on  all  these  things 
she  could  discourse,  not  profoundly,  but  easily  and 
agreeably.^  The  manufacture  of  porcelain  at  Sevres 
was  begun  during  the  reign  of  the  marquise,  and  her 
patronage  and  advice  did  much  to  assist  in  its  devel- 
opment. Artistic  objects  of  every  kind  attracted  her 
interest ;  from  the  list  of  her  purchases,  the  statues, 
and  bronzes  and  vases,  the  glass  and  the  porcelain, 
the  costly  paintings,  the  rare  books,  the  ornaments 
and  decorations  of  every  sort,  that  adorned  her  many 
chateaux  and  hermitages  and  hotels,  one  could  almost 
write  a  history  of  the  French  art  of  the  period.^ 

Not  only  did  she  buy  the  work  of  others,  but  she 
was  herself  an  artist  of  respectable  merit.  She  worked 
assiduously  at  engraving,  and  in  the  catalogue  of  her 
productions  we  find  Louis  XV.  engraved  in  onyx 
and  represented  as  a  Roman  emperor ;  Louis  XV.  in 
coralline  as  the  God  of  the  Arts ;  Louis  XV.  in  sar- 
doin  as  Hercules,  for  whose  favor  Peace  and  Victory 

^  Full  accounts  of  the  plays  represented  at  the  theatre  of  the 
"  Petits  Cabiuets  "  are  given  by  the  Duke  of  Luynes.  Luynes 
belonged  to  the  faction  of  the  queen,  but  he  admits  the  talents 
of  Mme.  de  Pompadour  as  an  actress.  See,  also,  Julien,  Theatre 
de  Mme.  de  Pompadour. 

2  Mtm.  de  Chevemy,  169. 

'  A  list  of  these  can  be  found  in  Livre  Journal  of  Lazare 
Davaux,  marchand  bijouticr  ordinaire  du  roy. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     459 

strive ;  France  and  Austria  treading  discord  under 
foot  and  joining  hands  at  the  altar  of  fidelity,  and 
many  other  works,  all  inscribed  "Pompadour  Sculp."  ^ 
Perhaps  the  touch  of  some  other  artist  at  times  per- 
fected the  work  of  the  favorite,  but  unlike  the  poor 
queen,  who  bungled  whatever  she  undertook,  the  mar- 
quise was  sure  to  acquit  herself  creditably  whether  she 
was  acting  Venus  at  the  "  Petits  Cabinets  "  or  deline- 
ating the  heroic  features  of  Louis  XV.  with  her  burin. 

As  she  was  interested  in  all  the  decorative  arts,  so 
in  most  of  them  she  set  the  fashion  for  others.  For 
few  persons  have  such  a  prodigious  number  of  things 
been  named :  there  were  Pompadour  carriages  and 
sofas  and  fans ;  Pompadour  chairs  and  mirrors  and 
chimney-places;  there  were  even  Pompadour  tooth- 
picks ;  there  are  still  toilettes  and  headdresses,  porce- 
lain and  roses,  "  a  la  Pompadour."  The  taste  of  her 
age  was  not  pure,  but  of  it  she  was  the  best  inter- 
preter ;  the  intricate  ornaments,  the  elaborate  decora- 
tions, the  powdered  locks  and  painted  cheeks,  were 
all  in  keeping  with  this  queen  of  rococo. 

Her  beauty  needed  no  disguising,  but  in  that  age 
nature  was  not  deemed  charming  unless  it  was  aided 
by  art.  Two  million  pots  of  paint,  it  was  estimated, 
were  required  each  year  to  brighten  the  cheeks  of 
French  women ;  not  only  ladies  of  the  court  and  of 
the  demimonde,  but  wives  of  staid  judges  and  of  plain 
shopkeepers,  made  use  of  it  to  add  to  their  charms.^ 

The  few  who  sought  to  eschew  it  were  regarded  at 
Versailles  as  innovators  more  hardy  than  the  Encyclo- 
paedists ;  cheeks  without  paint  seemed  as  strange  as 

'  Documents  in^dits  de  Gnay,  et  notes  sur  les  ceuvres  de  la 
niarqnise  de  Pompadour. 

2  Mercier,  Tableau,  de  Paris,  ix.,  Brochure  of  Cliev.  d'Elbee. 


460  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

heads  without  powder.  Marie  Leszczynski,  reared  in 
seclusion  and  the  strictest  piety,  looked  with  horror, 
on  her  first  arrival  at  court,  upon  the  painted  cheeks 
which  to  her  unsophisticated  mind  savored  of  exces- 
sive worldliness  if  not  of  vice,  but  the  queen  of  France 
had  to  yield  obedience  to  the  laws  of  fashion.  At 
Rome,  paint  was  forbidden  to  the  ladies  who  were 
presented  to  the  Pope,  and  when  the  Duchess  of  Ni- 
vernais,  the  wife  of  the  French  ambassador,  returned 
from  there,  she  announced  her  resolution  to  follow  the 
pious  regulations  of  the  papacy  and  eschew  the  paint- 
pot.  If  she  had  announced  her  determination  to 
appear  at  Versailles  in  the  dress  now  adopted  by 
members  of  the  Salvation  Army  and  to  rebuke  Louis 
XV.  for  his  sins,  she  would  have  caused  no  more 
excitement.  The  matter  assumed  the  importance  of 
a  question  of  state.  Her  husband  was  still  at  Rome, 
and  letters  from  dukes  and  marquises,  from  Duras, 
Mirabeau,  and  others,  were  hastily  dispatched  to  pre- 
vent so  rash  a  step.  It  was  not  left  for  the  women  to 
debate  the  question  ;  it  was  of  sufficient  importance  to 
demand  the  attention  of  the  men.  "  I  cannot  think 
there  is  any  just  ground  for  slighting  the  usage," 
wrote  one  ;  "  we  are  all  extremely  grieved."  Her  mo- 
ther hastened  to  meet  the  duchess,  carrying  a  paint-pot 
and  exhorting  her  to  use  it.  Mme.  de  Nivernais  was 
firm,  but  her  husband  saw  the  question  of  rouge  was 
not  one  to  be  trifled  with  ;  a  special  messenger  rode  in 
hot  haste  from  Rome  with  a  letter  in  which  the  duchess 
was  admonished  to  follow  the  counsels  of  her  friends, 
and  she  yielded.^  The  world  of  Versailles  was  a 
painted  world,  and  Mme.de  Pompadour  was  its  queen. 

^  Some  of  these  letters  are  published  in  Percy's  Un  petit  neveu 
de  Mazarin. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     461 

Unfortunately  there  were  darker  sides  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  woman  who  so  long  charmed  Louis  XV. 
Never  even  in  French  history  did  a  royal  favorite  con- 
sume such  prodigious  sums  of  money ;  statisticians 
have  calculated  what  it  cost  to  support  the  splendor 
and  to  gratify  the  whims  of  Mme.  de  Pompadour; 
their  estimates  do  not  seem  exaggerated,  and  they  are 
in  large  part  confirmed  by  the  figures  which  she  her- 
self furnished.  During  the  nineteen  years  of  what 
she  called  her  reign,  the  favorite  received  from  the 
French  treasury  thirty-six  million  livres.  This  was 
almost  at  the  rate  of  two  million  livres  a  year,  and 
was  one  twelfth  of  the  entire  revenues  of  Prussia  at 
the  time  that  Frederick  II.  succeeded  to  the  throne. 
Considering  the  relative  value  of  money,  two  million 
dollars  in  our  days,  annually  during  almost  twenty 
years,  would  not  be  greatly  in  excess  of  the  amount 
spent  by  the  king's  mistress.^ 

This  great  sura  was  not  all  spent  in  ordinary  ex- 
penditures nor  in  amusements.  The  marquise  esti- 
mated the  cost  of  voyages  and  fetes  during  the  period 
of  her  favor  at  four  millions,  of  her  kitchen  at  three 
and  a  half  millions,  and  of  servants'  wages  at  a  little 
over  one  million.  But  she  had  a  taste  for  lands  and 
chateaux,  and  this  absorbed  larger  sums  than  all  her 
other  pomp  and  extravagance.  Near  Dreux  she  had 
a  chateau  with  magnificent  grounds ;  at  Meudon  was 
the  charming  chateau  of  Belle  Vue,  where  for  many 
years  the  representations  of  her  theatre  were  held,  and 
in  a  little  depend ance  of  which  the  treaty  of  alliance 
between  France  and  Austria  was  agreed  upon;  she 
had  so-called  hermitages  near  Versailles  and  Fontaine- 
bleau  and  Compiegne,  in  order  that  the  king  might 
*  Releve  des  depenses  de  Mme.  de  Pompadour,  Le  RoL 


462  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

enjoy  the  luxury  of  occasionally  stopping  at  a  modest 
country  place  instead  of  an  enormous  palace.  In 
Paris,  Louis's  liberality  obtained  for  his  favorite  what 
was  then  known  as  the  Hotel  d'Evreux  and  is  now 
the  Elys^e,  the  official  residence  of  the  President  of 
the  French  republic. 

Mme.  de  Pompadour  did  more  harm  to  the  cause  of 
royalty  in  France  than  spending  money  on  palaces  and 
fetes.  Notwithstanding  the  apparent  splendor  of  her 
life,  the  triumphs  of  her  theatre,  and  the  beauties  of 
her  chateaux,  this  frivolous  woman  led  as  anxious  and 
agitated  an  existence  as  Richelieu  or  Mazarin ;  quite 
as  much  as  those  statesmen,  she  was  in  constant  fear 
of  losing  favor,  and  she  was  continually  watching  lest 
some  successfid  rival  should  obtain  the  king's  confi- 
dence and  cause  her  overthrow.  "  My  life  is  like  that 
of  the  Christian,"  said  the  marquise,  choosing  a  curi- 
ous simile ;  "  it  is  a  perpetual  contest." 

It  was  the  fear  of  her  own  overthrow  that  accounted 
for  the  most  shameful  things  in  Mme.  de  Pompadour's 
career.  As  she  grew  older,  she  became  infirm  in 
health,  and  she  realized  how  slight  was  her  hold  on  a 
fickle  character  like  Louis  XV.  "  If  the  king  found 
some  one  else  with  whom  he  could  talk  about  his  hunt- 
ing and  his  affairs,"  she  said,  "  at  the  end  of  three 
days  he  would  not  know  the  difference  if  I  were  gone." 
She  knew  the  king  too  well  to  believe  that  he  would 
ever  lead  a  reputable  life,  and  to  avoid  the  danger  of 
a  rival  who  might  push  her  from  her  place,  she  was 
glad  if  his  attention  could  be  occupied  by  low-born 
and  ignorant  girls  from  whom  she  had  nothing  to 
fear.  The  amount  of  money  spent  in  the  support  of 
the  pare  aux  cerfs^  and  the  number  of  sultanas  whom 
it  sheltered,  have  been  grossly  exaggerated,  but  the 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     463 

ignominy  of  such  practices  remains  the  same.  The 
so-called  pare  aux  cerfs  was  a  small  house  in  a  back 
street  in  Versailles,  in  the  quarter  once  used  as  a 
deer  park.  It  had  but  few  occupants,  and  in  1771 
it  was  sold.  But  during  a  number  of  years  the  king, 
now  becoming  an  old  man,  had  a  succession  of  mis- 
tresses, mostly  young  girls  of  low  birth  and  poor 
education,  for  whom  this  house  furnished  an  asylum. 
They  received  no  recognition  at  court ;  if  they  had 
children,  the  parentage  was  not  acknowledged,  and 
after  a  while  they  were  retired  on  meagre  pensions, 
which  were,  however,  sufficient  to  secure  a  husband 
in  the  provinces.^  Nothing  could  have  been  more 
squalid,  more  vulgar,  or  more  low ;  to  such  a  grovel- 
ing depth  of  nastiness  had  the  Lord's  anointed  sunk. 

If  such  practices  secured  Mme.  de  Pompadour's  con- 
tinuance in  power,  they  increased  the  hatred  with 
which  she  had  long  been  regarded,  and  involved  the 
king  in  such  contempt  as  had  never  been  felt  for  a 
French  monarch ;  by  an  unusual  combination,  wrote 
Chesterfield,  Louis  XV.  was  both  hated  and  despised. 

Whatever  were  the  means  by  which  Mme.  de  Pom- 
padour retained  her  hold,  for  more  than  ten  years 
following  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  she  filled  the 
place  of  prime  minister  in  the  infirm  government  of 
Louis  XV.  Her  activity  was  prodigious  ;  she  labored 
as  assiduously  as  any  hard-working  secretary.  '.'  It  is 
now  late,"  she  tells  her  father,  "  and  I  have  still  sixty 
letters  to  write."  ^  For  the  most  part  the  favorite 
did  not  concern  herself  with  the  details  of  administra- 
tion ;  she  exerted  indeed  a  considerable  influence  u})on 
the  great  question   of  tlie  Austrian  alliance,  but  as  a 

^  Mem.  de  Hausset,  77-91. 

-  Carrespondance  de  Mme.  de  Pompadour  avec  son  p'ere. 


464  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

general  rule  her  conception  of  government  was  that 
of  many  a  modern  politician ;  the  important  question 
was  who  should  get  the  offices.  In  this  respect  her 
policy  was  a  simple  one :  she  wished  all  places  of 
importance  filled  by  her  friends ;  of  their  capacity 
she  was  not  able  to  judge,  nor  did  she  trouble  herself 
with  the  question. 

The  changes  in  the  ministry  under  Mme.  de  Pom- 
padour were  likened  to  the  transformation  scenes  of 
a  theatre ;  ministers  were  disgraced  or  were  trans- 
ferred from  one  bureau  to  another  with  startling 
rapidity.  In  1749,  Maurepas  was  removed  from  the 
ministry  of  the  marine,  which  he  had  filled  for  thirty 
years,  because  he  wrote  some  offensive  verses  about 
the  favorite.  Certainly  they  were  vulgar  verses  for 
a  gentleman  to  write,  but  well-bred  people  then  said 
things  which  are  not  now  allowed  in  polite  society. 
At  all  events,  they  did  not  affect  his  ability  to  per- 
form his  duties,  but  they  cost  him  his  position. 
Machault,  who  was  one  of  the  favorite's  protdgcs, 
was  first  made  comptroller  general,  and  then  trans- 
ferred to  the  marine,  and  a  few  years  later  disgraced 
because  he  had  become  lukewarm  in  the  cause  of 
his  patroness.  Bemis  was  made  minister  of  foreign 
affairs  in  1757  because  he  enjoyed  the  confidence  of 
Mme.  de  Pompadour;  he  was  removed  a  year  later 
for  advising  a  policy  of  which  she  disapproved.  The 
Count  of  Argenson,  wlio  had  been  minister  of  war  for 
fourteen  years,  and  was  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  king's 
■advisers,  was  disgraced  at  the  beginning  of  the  Seven 
Years'  war  because  he  persistently  refused  the  favor- 
ite's overtures.  The  list  could  be  made  longer,  but 
the  fate  of  obscure  holders  of  important  offices  is  not 
worth  following. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     465 

Before  the  close  of  the  Seven  Years'  war,  the  part 
taken  by  Mme.  de  Pompadour  in  public  affairs  became 
less  active  than  it  once  had  been.  Though  Choiseul 
entered  the  king's  councils  as  her  friend,  he  was  a 
man  of  imperious  temperament,  and  he  soon  occupied 
a  different  position  from  the  ministers  she  had  so 
easily  elevated  or  overthrown.  Moreover,  her  health 
was  failing,  and  her  aspirations  were  disappointed. 
Frivolous  as  she  was  in  character,  yet  she  had  cher- 
ished an  ambition  for  political  fame ;  if  she  could  not 
be  a  successor  to  Richelieu,  at  least  she  had  hoped 
to  hold  a  place  in  the  affections  of  the  French  people 
like  that  of  Agnes  Sorel.  These  hopes  had  been 
blighted;  she  had  found  by  bitter  experience  that 
forming  political  combinations  and  carrying  on  wars 
was  more  serious  business  than  playing  in  the  theatre 
of  the  "Petits  Cabinets."  The  Austrian  alliance 
proved  a  disappointment,  the  war  against  Frederick 
ended  in  defeat  and  disgrace,  and  for  the  humilia- 
tions which  the  nation  suffered  it  vented  its  anger 
upon  the  favorite.  She  was  held  responsible  for  the 
choice  of  incompetent  generals,  for  disorders  in  the 
finances,  and  for  the  condition  of  vulgar  vice  and 
apathetic  indifference  into  which  the  king  was  sunk, 
and  to  a  large  extent  she  was  responsible. 

It  is  the  lot  of  those  in  power  to  receive  threaten- 
ing letters,  and  during  the  series  of  disasters  which 
began  at  Rossbach,  Muie.  de  Pom])adour's  mail  became 
disagreeable.  Eacli  day  she  roct'Ived  anonymous  let- 
ters charging  her  with  every  crime,  and  invoking 
upon  her  every  punishment.  The  mortification  of 
defeat  distressed  her  nion;  than  tlireats  of  vi<)leH(H!  ; 
she  could  get  no  sleep  except  by  the  use  of  drugs  ;  she 
was  plunged  into  a  despair  that  was  not  altogether 


466  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

ignoble.  "  The  disease  of  which  I  shall  die,"  she  said 
one  day,  "  will  be  chagrin."  ^  Not  alone  the  loss  of 
her  beauty,  and  anxiety  lest  some  rival  should  gain 
her  place,  helped  to  ruin  the  favorite's  health  and 
bring  her  to  an  early  grave ;  mortification  at  the  dis- 
grace in  which  she  had  involved  France,  humiliation 
that  her  name  should  be  identified  with  defeat  and 
disaster,  instead  of  with  glory  and  victory,  had  their 
part  in  the  melancholy  of  her  later  years  and  hastened 
her  end. 

The  years  which  followed  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle  were  filled  with  literary  activity  and  social  change, 
but  politically  they  were  not  important.  The  begin- 
nings of  the  contest  between  England  and  France 
belong  properly  to  the  Seven  Years'  war,  which  grew 
out  of  them ;  the  efforts  of  Maria  Theresa  to  form  an 
alliance  with  the  Bourbons  only  became  important 
when  the  conduct  of  Frederick  a  few  years  later  in- 
sured their  success.  Changes  in  public  feeling,  under 
the  influence  of  free  discussion  and  of  a  literature 
trammeled  only  in  form,  were  indeed  going  on  with 
rapidity  during  all  the  latter  years  of  Louis  XV.'s 
reign,  but  they  did  not  as  yet  affect  the  administra- 
tion of  the  government.  Almost  the  only  political 
measures  that  have  any  permanent  interest  are  the 
attempts  made  to  subject  church  property  to  taxation. 

If  the  Revolution  found  the  French  political  system 
little  changed  from  what  it  had  been  a  century  before, 
it  was  not  because  there  was  a  lack  of  attempts  at 
amendment,  but  their  history  is  almost  a  uniform 
record  of  failure.  So  important  was  the  influence  of 
the  church  in  the  French  social  system,  that  it  may  be 
well  to  follow  with  some  detail  the  endeavors  made 
1  Mem.  de  Mme.  du  Hausset,  124,  149,  etc. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     467 

to  deprive  it  of  some  privileges  which  it  had  long 
enjoyed,  and  to  consider  the  character  of  the  clergy 
by  whom  those  efforts  were  successfully  resisted. 

Peace  is  usually  welcome,  but  the  peace  which 
closed  the  war  of  the  Austrian  Succession  was  unpop- 
ular in  France.  The  events  of  the  war  had  on  the 
whole  been  favorable.  Fontenoy  and  Lawfeldt  were 
the  most  brilliant  victories  gained  by  French  armies 
during  the  long  period  between  the  day  when  Luxem- 
bourg defeated  William  III.  at  Steinkirk  and  the  day 
when  Dumouriez  defeated  Brunswick  at  Valmy.  For 
these  successes  France  had  nothing  to  show  except 
a  considerable  increase  in  debt ;  her  own  boundaries 
had  not  been  enlarged,  and  the  principalities  ceded  to 
Louis's  son-in-law,  the  Bourbon  prince  of  Spain,  were 
rated  by  the  French  people  at  their  just  value  to  them- 
selves, and  that  was  nothing  at  all.  The  announce- 
ment, therefore,  that  some  of  the  war  taxes  were  to  be 
continued  indefinitely,  and  that  a  further  loan  was 
needed  to  settle  the  arrears  of  indebtedness,  was  re- 
ceived with  sullen  discontent.  An  attempt  was  made 
to  render  these  impositions  more  equitable,  and  this 
at  least  met  with  public  approval,  but  the  government 
was  unable  to  modify  its  ancient  principles,  and  a 
laudable  effort  residted  in  a  lamentable  failure.  It 
deserves  consideration,  for  it  involved  the  questions 
of  privilege  which  were  deeply  seated  in  tlie  French 
system,  and  it  illustrated  the  change  in  public  senti- 
ment which  ere  long  was  to  result  in  the  destruction 
of  all  privileges. 

In  1749,  Machault  was  comptroller  general.  The 
national  debt  had  been  largely  increased  during  the 
late  war,  and  the  principles  of  economy  which  enabled 
Fleury  to  balance  the  budget  were  no  longer  in  vogue. 


468  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

It  was  certain  that  a  minister  who  owed  his  position 
to  Mme.  de  Pompadour's  favor  would  not  hold  it  long 
if  he  insisted  on  any  large  reduction  in  the  expenses 
of  the  court.  Machault  was,  however,  an  intelligent 
man  and  possessed  of  considerable  boldness,  and  he 
resolved  on  a  vigorous  endeavor  to  subject  to  taxation 
some  part  of  the  wealth  of  the  kingdom,  which  thus 
far  had  escaped.  In  that  year  an  edict  was  issued 
imposing  a  tax  of  five  per  cent,  on  all  incomes  with- 
out regard  to  any  privilege  or  exemption.^  The  pro- 
ceeds were  devoted  to  the  payment  of  the  debt  incurred 
during  the  war,  and  the  preamble  stated  that  this  im- 
position was  chosen  in  preference  to  any  other,  because 
it  was  equal  and  just  and  fell  on  all  subjects  of  the 
crown  in  proportion  to  their  ability  to  pay.^  Income 
taxes  had  been  several  times  imposed,  and  to  this  edict 
of  1749  the  nobility  as  an  order  made  no  opposition ; 
and  yet,  even  when  it  was  admitted  in  theory  that  a 
particular  tax  should  fall  upon  the  rich  in  the  same 
proportion  as  upon  the  poor,  it  was  impossible  to 
enforce  this  in  practice.  So  imperfect  was  the  assess- 
ment for  purposes  of  taxation  that  a  person  of  influ- 
ence could  easily  escape  a  large  share  of  the  burden. 
"  Your  tender  heart,"  wrote  a  nobleman  to  an  official, 
"  would  never  consent  that  a  father  of  my  rank  should 
be  taxed  strictly  for  the  twentieth,  like  one  of  the  com- 
mon people."  ^  Such  appeals,  when  backed  by  rank 
and  social  influence,  rarely  failed  to  be  efficacious. 
One  instance  of  the  mode  of  assessment  under  a  sim- 
ilar tax,  also  imposed  for  war  purposes,  will  show  how 
the  rich  in  great  part  escaped  the  burden.     The  pres* 

»  Edict  of  May,  1749. 

•  Anc,  loisfran.,  xxii.  225. 

•  Cited  by  De  Tocqueville,  L'ancien  regime. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     4G9 

ident,  Segur,  was  the  owner  of  extensive  vine  lands,  and 
received  from  tliem  an  income  of  at  least  one  hundred 
and  sixty  thousand  livres.  In  1734,  after  much  wran- 
gling, he  was  assessed  for  sixteen  thousand;  in  the 
following  year  he  obtained  a  reduction  to  twelve  thou- 
sand; not  satisfied  with  that,  he  wrote  one  of  the 
ministers,  who  ordered  it  to  be  reduced  to  ten  thou- 
sand ;  in  1748,  by  dint  of  persistence,  the  assessment 
had  been  worked  down  to  four  thousand  livres.  ^  This 
is  not  an  extreme  instance ;  a  tax  which  nominally 
fell  upon  the  privileged  classes  became  almost  a  deri- 
sory impost  so  far  as  they  were  concerned.  "  The 
capitation,"  Turgot  wrote  in  1767,  "which  it  was 
intended  should  be  borne  by  all,  and  from  which  the 
nobility  is  not  exempt  by  law,  practically  falls  upon 
those  subject  to  the  taille.  In  the  generality  of  Limo- 
ges the  nobility  is  highly  taxed,  if  one  compares  their 
contributions  with  those  paid  by  nobles  of  equal  for- 
time  in  other  provinces,  but  if  the  capitation  paid  by 
a  gentleman  is  compared  with  that  paid  by  a  peasant, 
it  wiU  be  seen  that  the  gentlemen  pay  in  so  different  a 
proportion  that  it  amounts  practically  to  exemption 
from  a  tax  which  the  law  intended  to  impose  on  all 
subjects  of  the  king."  ^ 

The  position  of  the  clergy  was  different ;  their  ex- 
emption from  taxation,  if  not  unquestioned,  had  never 
been  successfully  attacked,  and  they  would  not  con- 
cede any  right  in  the  crown  to  subject  them  to  this 
imposition  ;  they  were  a  united  and  a  powerful  body, 
they  had  to  deal  with  a  weak  and  timorous  king,  and 
they  now  opposed  with  uncompromising  resistance  the 

*  Orry  to  Boucher,  1734,  1735,  etc.,  cited  by  Fourcade,  Le 

dixieme  dans  la  gcnerallte  de  Gui/enne. 

*  Turgot  to  Onnesson,  August  10,  1767. 


y 


470  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

policy  which  Machault  sought  to  enforce.  Quarter 
of  a  century  before,  an  attempt  had  been  made  to 
subject  the  property  of  the  church  to  taxation ;  it  had 
failed,  nor  was  it  strange  that  such  an  endeavor  at  the 
beginning  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  should  have 

l^een  unsuccessful.  fThe  exemption  of  church  property 
from  ordinary  taxation  had  for  centuries  been  a  part 

I  of  the  institutions  of  the  kingdom.  /  It  had  been  rec- 
ognized at  the  court  of  Charfeinagne  and  unques- 
tioned by  the  parliaments  of  Philip  the  Fair ;  that  the 
property  held  by  the  church  should  not  be  seized  by 
the  sacrilegious  hand  of  the  state  had  been  repeatedly 

;  declared  by  Louis  XIV.,  and  had  been  solemnly  ac- 
knowledged by  Louis  XV. ;  so  far  as  France  could  be 
regarded  as  having  any  fixed  constitution  independ- 
ent of  the  will  of  the  king,  the  immunity  of  church 
property  from  taxation  formed  a  part  of  it.     It  was 

"^ield  for  the  service  of  God,  and  only  a  godless  ruler 
would  claim  that  the  state  could  impose  upon  it  the 
same  burdens  as  upon  property  held  by  the  merchant 
or  the  husbandman  for  his  private  gain  and  profit. 

Yet  the  necessities  of  the  state  had  often  been 
severe,  and  the  wealth  of  the  church  had  always  been 
great,  and  this  exemption  had  been  purchased  at  the 
cost  of  free-will  offerings,  so-called,  which  a  loyal  clergy 
voted  for  the  aid  of  their  king.  Not  only  were  such 
offerings  granted  by  the  consent  of  those  who  had  to 
pay  them,  but  they  were  far  less  than  the  contribu- 
tions exacted  from  other  property  of  equal  value.  The 
church  owned  one  fourth  of  the  French  soil,  and  two 
hundred  million  livres  is  a  low  estimate  of  the  income 
which  the  clergy  derived  from  their  own  land  and 
from  the  tithes  which  they  levied  on  the  land  of 
others.     Their  contribution  to  the  needs  of  the  state 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     471 

was  insignificant ;  while  it  was  estimated  that  the 
direct  taxes  took  almost  one  half  of  the  produce  of 
a  piece  of  land  belonging  to  a  peasant,  the  amomit 
of  the  annual  gift  voted  by  the  clergy  during  the 
eighteenth  century  averaged  less  than  four  million 
livres  a  year.  Owning  one  fourth  of  the  soil,  the 
church  did  not  pay  more  than  one  thirtieth  of  the 
direct  taxes ;  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  burden  of 
taxation  on  a  peasant  was  twenty  times  as  heavy  as 
on  a  priest.^  Allowing  for  errors  in  calculations  which 
it  is  impossible  to  make  exact,  the  disproportion  was 
enormous. 

An  attempt  to  disregard  privileges  so  long  respected 
would  not  have  been  made  if  the  ministry  had  not 
represented  feelings  which  began  to  agitate  the  com- 
munity. "  These  pretended  privileges,"  wrote  a  Paris- 
ian, whose  views  always  closely  reflected  the  change 
in  popular  sentiment,  "are  visionary.  The  imposi- 
tions on  property  should  be  divided  among  all  the 

*  Collection  des  proces  verbaux  du  clerge.  This  annual  gift  did 
not  include  certain  contributions  to  the  rentes  of  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  and  other  purposes,  nor  the  payments  made  by  the  elerge 
etranger  of  Artois,  Flanders,  Alsace,  and  other  provinces  which 
had  been  recently  added  to  France.  Against  this  must  be  reck- 
oned the  amount  contributed  by  the  king  towards  paying  the 
interest  on  the  debt  which  the  clergy  had  incurred  for  some  of 
its  advances.  In  a  recent  article  in  the  Revue  des  Questions  His- 
toriques,  the  writer  seeks  to  show  that  the  contributions  of  the 
clergy  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  and  Louis  XVI.  amounted 
to  as  much  as  seven  per  cent,  of  their  revenues.  Even  if  these 
figures  were  correct,  the  contribution  paid  by  a  bishop  with  an 
income  of  one  hundred  thousand  livres  would  not  have  been  one 
seventh  as  heavy  proportionally  as  that  paid  by  a  peasant  who 
earned  five  hundred  livres.  But  this  percentage  can  only  be  ob- 
tained by  undervaluing  tlie  wealth  of  the  French  church.  The 
estimates  made  by  Tainj  aad  Avenel  are  far  more  accurate. 


472  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

subjects  of  the  king  in  proportion  to  what  each  has. 
In  England  the  lands  of  the  clergy,  the  nobility,  and 
of  the  third  estate  pay  equally  and  without  distinc- 
tion. Nothing  is  more  just."  ^  Such  views  would 
have  found  no  utterance  a  century  before,  and  they 
indicate  a  newly  developed  desire  for  equality  before 
the  law,  a  feeling  which  gained  strength  in  France 
much  later  than  in  England. 

Apail;  from  this,  the  hold  of  the  church  upon  the 
people  was  weaker  than  in  the  seventeenth  century, 

i  and  in  considering  this  change  of  sentiment  it  is  well 
to  examine  somewhat  the  condition  of  the  Gallican 
clergy  during   the  reign  of  Louis  XV.     While  the 

'-diminished  influence  exercised  by  the  church  was  in 
part  due  to  the  skeptical  literature  that  began  to 
assume  importance,  yet  the  clergy  themselves  made 
success  easy  for  their  assailants.  If  the  bitterness 
with  which  Voltaire  and  his  followers  attacked  religion 
is  now  distasteful,  even  to  those  who  have  discarded 
any  religious  belief,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
organization  which  embodied  Christianity  in  the  days 
of  Voltaire  was  very  different  from  any  organization 
that  now  calls  itself  Chris^iana^^^ertainly  the  char- 

(  acter  of  the  higher  clergy  had  deteriorated,  when  we 
compare  them  with  their  predecessors  in  the  century 
before.  Not  only  were  the  great  men  lacking,  not 
only  had  the  Bossuets  and  Fenelons  left  no  successors, 
but  the  influences  which  controlled   the  selection  of 

^men  for  the  highest  clerical  offices  had  changed;  their 
holders  were  less  liberal  and  more  worldly ;  the  era  of 

I   persecution,  of  which  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of 

\  Nantes  formed  a  part,  left  its  marks  for  evil  on  the 

1  clergy  of  the  dominant  church. 

'  Journal  de  Barbier,  Aug^t,  1750. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     473 

The  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  witnessed 
the  establishment  of  the  Oratory,  and  the  exhaustless 
charities  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul ;  it  developed  men  of 
powerful  thought  and  stern  piety  like  St.  Cyran  and 
Arnauld,  and  the  inmates  of  Port  Royal  and  La 
Trappe.  There  were  no  such  manifestations  in  the 
Gallican  church  during  the  century  which  followed 
the  revocation  of  the  edict.  The  influence  of  the 
Jesuits  grew  stronger,  and  the  higher  dignities  fell  to 
those  who  were  willing  to  be  their  docile  pupils.  In 
a  large  degree  the  great  benefices  were  bestowed  as 
marks  of  favor  and  not  as  rewards  of  capacity.  The 
energies  of  the  church,  instead  of  being  given  to  the 
work  of  charity  or  to  the  cause  of  pure  religion,  were 
chiefly  consumed  in  a  bitter  struggle  to  crush  out  the 
relics  of  Jansenism  by  compelling  all  to  accept  the 
dogmas  of  the  Unigenitus.  The  clergy  manifested 
more  zeal  in  persecuting  heretics  than  in  pm-ifying 
morals. 

These  attempts  at  persecution  excited  a  constant 
opposition  in  the  community.  The  French  mind  has 
never  shown  any  marked  interest  in  metaphysical  sub- 
tleties, and  certainly  no  one  would  for  a  moment 
believe  that  Parisians  of  the  eighteenth  century  were 
really  disturbed  by  questions  concerning  predestination 
or  preserving  grace,  but  the  persistence  with  which  a 
majority  of  the  clergy  refused  the  privileges  of  reli- 
gion to  those  who  would  not  accept  one  hundred  and 
one  propositions  that  no  one  understood,  not  even  the 
Pope  who  had  pronounced  them,  weakened  the  hold 
which  the  church  had  once  possessed.  At  the  same 
time  that  the  French  clergy  were  resisting  any  at- 
tempt to  subject  their  property  to  the  laws  whicli 
affected  the  property  of  their  fellows,  they  sought  to 


474  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

stir  into  new  activity  the  odious  regulations  against 
the  Protestants.  In  1750,  at  the  request  of  some  of 
the  bishops,  troops  were  sent  into  the  Cevennes  to 
surprise  Protestant  gatherings  in  the  wilderness;  a 
few  of  these  outcasts  for  their  faith  were  shot,  and 
one  clergyman  was  captured  and  hanged.  During  the 
eight  years  preceding,  six  hundred  Protestants  had 
been  imprisoned  for  various  offenses  against  the  dom- 
inant creed.  These  persecutions  were  indeed  sporadic, 
but  if  the  dragonnades  of  Louvois  were  not  repeated, 
it  was  not  from  lack  of  exhortation  on  the  part  of  the 
clergy. 

There  were  other  reasons  for  the  lower  estimation  in 
which  the  church  was  held,  and  these  were  found  in 
the  character  and  conduct  of  many  of  its  clergy.  For 
the  most  part  these  strictures  must  be  confined  to  the 
higher  clergy,  but  naturally  what  impressed  the  com- 
munity was  the  conduct  of  the  great  ecclesiastical  dig- 
nitaries. A  cure  of  Tours  might  furnish  a  pattern  of 
the  most  edifying  Christian  conduct,  but  if  the  Bishop 
of  Tours  was  a  man  of  worldly  life,  wasting  great 
revenues  in  profane  pleasures,  and  spending  more 
time  in  Mme.  de  Pompadour's  chamber  at  Versailles 
than  in  ministering  to  his  flock  in  Touraine,  the  evil 
of  the  one  example  far  outdid  any  benefit  that  might 
be  derived  from  the  other. 
r^  The  lower  clergy  at  this  period  were  often  ignorant, 
I  but  with  few  exceptions  they  were  sincere  in  their 
faith  and  zealous  in  their  ministrations.  They  were 
i~~.not  stimulated  by  the  hope  of  temporal  advantages, 
for  the  miserable  pay  received  by  most  of  the  cures 
and  vicars  was  a  reproach  to  the  church.  As  is  often 
the  case  when  some  members  of  a  religious  establish- 
ment receive  compensation  which  is  out  of  proportion 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     475 

to  any  work  they  do,  others  are  left  in  a  condition  of 
more  than  apostolic  poverty.  The  inadequate  provi- 
sion made  for  the  inferior  clergy  in  France  had  long 
excited  the  attention  of  the  laity,  without  at  all  dis- 
turbing the  composure  of  ecclesiastical  dignitaries. 
As  far  back  as  1614,  the  last  States  General  had  com- 
plained of  the  poverty  in  which  the  humble  workers 
in  the  church  were  left,  and  had  asked  that  an  income 
of  at  least  two  hundred  livres  should  be  secured  to 
every  village  cure.  A  century  and  a  half  passed,  and 
the  position  of  the  lower  clergy  was  no  better  ;  a  large 
proportion  of  cur^s  received  less  than  five  hundred 
francs  a  year,  and  many  of  the  vicars  received  less  than 
two  hundred,  and  of  this  small  allowance  a  larger 
percentage  went  in  charity  than  was  contributed  by 
many  bishops  who  added  to  the  great  revenues  of 
their  sees  the  emoluments  of  half  a  dozen  abbeys. 
Voltaire's  cure,  who,  for  forty  ducats  a  year,  had  to 
work  by  night  and  day,  in  the  heat  of  the  sun  and  in 
the  rain  and  snow,  who  was  often  required  to  go  long 
distances  from  his  beggarly  home,  and  found  no  res- 
pite from  severe  and  exhausting  labor,  was  not  an 
exaggerated  case. 

In  marked  contrast  with  the  lot  of  these  ill-paid  and 
overworked  priests  was  the  condition  of  the  riders  of 
the  church,  who  now  protested  against  contributing 
from  their  superfluity  to  the  burdens  of  the  state.  In 
the  eighteenth  century,  even  more  than  in  the  seven- 
teenth, the  higher  clergy  were  members  of  the  aris- 
tocracy. In  1789,  the  Almanach  Royal  gives  us  the 
names  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  French  bishops,  and 
every  one  was  of  noble  family ;  there  were  Rochefou- 
caulds  and  Rohans  and  Talleyrands,  but  there  were 
none  of  humble  birth.     Such  had  not  been  the  tradi- 


476  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

tion  of  the  Catholic  Church ;  for  centuries  no  great 
organization  had  been  so  democratic,  in  no  other  in- 
stitution had  so  many  worked  their  way  to  the  largest 
influence  and  the  highest  honors  by  mere  force  of 
intellect  and  by  fitness  for  their  work.     Even  under 

"iiDuis  XIV.,  in  religious  as  in  political  office,  the 
choice  waskmuch  less  restricted  than  under  his  suc- 
cessor ;  in  his  reign  the  nobility  complained,  and  not 

I  without  some  justice,  that  at  times  their  rank  operated 

j  as  a  hindrance  to  their  preferment.  There  was  no 
ground  for  such  complaints  under  Lotiis  XV.,  and 
plebeian  bishops  became  unknown. 

_  As  with  the  bishoprics,  so  with  the  important  and 
lucrative  ecclesiastical  offices ;  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, these  were  regarded  as  good  things  which  should 
be  reserved  for  the  upper  classes.  "  Abbeys  are  in- 
tended for  people  of  quality,"  said  Boyer,  the  Bishop 
of  Mirepoix,  to  a  plebeian  applicant.^  It  is  curious 
that  in  the  latter  part  of  Louis  XV. 's  reign,  when 
books  extolling  equality  were  read  and  praised  by 
persons  of  rank,  as  much  as  by  discontented  and 
ambitious  plebeians,  preferment,  both  in  the  army  and 
in  the  church,  was  reserved  for  the  aristocracy  with  a 
strictness  previously  unknown  in  France. 

Certainly,  the  fact  that  a  man  was  a  gentleman  by 
birth,  that  his  ancestors  had  led  armies  in  the  Holy 
Land  and  ruled  provinces  in  France,  that  his  kinsmen 
were  dukes  and  princes,  did  not  unfit  him  to  be  a 
pious  and  a  faithful  bishop,  and  no  more  did  it  fit 
him  to  become  one.  There  was  no  reason  that  a 
bishop  should  not  be  a  gentleman  by  birth,  and  on 
the  other  hand,  the  mere  fact  that  he  was  a  gentleman 

*  Berais,  Mem.,  i.  83  ;  Mem.  de  Rochefoucauld,  i.  117  ;  Mem. 
d'Augeard,  Campan,  etc. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     477 

was  no  reason  for  making  him  a  bishop.  The  higher 
clergy  under  Louis  XV.  had  the  virtues  and  the  vices 
of  the  order  to  which  they  belonged  by  birth,  and 
when  great  ecclesiastical  offices  became  the  patrimony 
of  a  social  class,  it  was  inevitable  that  many  of  the 
incumbents  should  be  more  interested  in  their  tempo- 
ralities than  in  their  duties. 

The  rewards  were  so  great  that  they  might  well 
satisfy  even  those  who  desired  the  utmost  of  worldly 
pomp  and  display.  In  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
average  incomes  of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty  bishops 
of  France  can  be  stated  at  one  hundred  thousand 
livres,  and  at  a  low  estimate  this  would  be  equivalent 
to  two  hundred  thousand  francs  or  forty  thousand 
dollars  at  the  present  date.^  The  revenues  of  the 
eighteen  archbishops  were  still  larger.  The  arch- 
bishopric of  Paris  was  worth  three  hundred  thousand 
livres,  that  of  Cambrais  half  as  much,  and  the  man 
holding  one  of  these  great  sees  was  a  poor  courtier  if 
he  did  not  obtain  the  gift  of  numerous  abbeys  and 
livings,  with  which  to  increase  the  regular  emoluments 
of  his  office.  In  1788,  the  Almanach  Royal  tells  us 
that  the  Archbishop  of  Norbonne  added  to  one  hundred 
and  sixty  thousand  livres  from  his  see  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  from  his  abbeys.  The  Archbishop 
of  Rouen  supplemented  his  episcopal  income  of  one 
hundred  thousand,  by  one  hundred  and  thirty  thou- 
sand from  other  livings.  The  list  could  be  continued, 
and  in  this  respect  there  was  no  difference  between  the 
conditions  which  prevailed  in  1788  and  half  a  century 
earlier. 

The  wealth  of  some  ecclesiastics  far  exceeded  even 

^  There  were  some  bishoprics  of  which  the  iucome  was  small, 
but  those  were  exceptional. 


478  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

these  figures.  The  bishopric  of  Strasburg  was  almost 
hereditary  in  the  great  family  of  Rohan.  In  1780, 
ifae  income  of  Cardinal  Rohan,  who  then  held  that 
see,  was  over  eight  hundred  thousand  livres ;  his 
palace  at  Strasburg  was  exceeded  in  magnificence 
by  few  in  France ;  he  could  entertain  seven  hundred 
guests  in  it,  and  often  all  of  these  accommodations 
were  required  by  his  lavish  hospitality ;  one  hundred 
and  eighty  horses  stood  in  his  stables ;  his  frequent 
entertainments  were  marked  by  more  splendor  than 
those  of  the  wealthy  laity,  and  by  quite  as  little 
decorum.^  At  Rome,  Cardinal  Bouillon  had  twenty- 
nine  pages  and  sixty  valets  to  support  his  dignity. 
Bernis,  though  he  gave  more  heed  to  rendering  life 
agreeable  for  his  guests  by  the  charms  of  the  conver- 
sation than  by  the  splendor  of  the  surroundings,  main- 
tained an  establishment  for  the  expense  of  which  five 
hundred  thousand  livres  barely  sufficed.  A  bishop 
was  a  grand  seigneur ;  his  life  and  his  traditions  were 
those  of  a  wealthy  and  worldly  aristocracy. 

Most  of  the  bishops  and  archbishops  were  indeed 
decorous  in  their  conduct  and  sincere  in  their  faith. 
The  evil  livers  were  comparatively  few,  yet  even  with 
the  most  creditable  members  of  the  higher  clergy,  the 
size  of  their  incomes  and  the  splendor  of  their  lives 
made  their  position  very  different  from  that  now 
occupied  by  the  hard-working  and  poorly  paid  epis- 
copate of  France. 

As  these  dignities  were  bestowed  by  favor,  there 
was  a  large  proportion  of  young  bishops ;  if  a  man 
was  to  become  a  bishop  at  all,  he  generally  received 
his  promotion  before  he  was  forty,  and  frequently 
when  much  younger.  Not  often  was  a  priest  elevated 
*  Mem.  de  Valfons  ;  Mem.  de  Georgel. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     479 

to  this  dignity  when  past  fifty;  the  ofiice  was  re- 
garded as  a  benefit  to  be  bestowed  by  the  monarch 
on  his  faithful  nobility,  and  not  as  a  reward  for  ser- 
vice in  the  work  of  the  church,  and  the  man  whose 
rank  entitled  him  to  ask  for  such  a  position  usually 
obtained  it  early  in  his  career.   • 

It  would  be  unfair  to  judge  a  body  of  men  by  the 
conduct  of  some  members,  yet  when  the  higher  clergy 
were  thus  recruited,  it  would  have  been  impossible 
that  their  modes  of  thought  and  life  should  greatly 
differ  from  those  of  their  class.  The  younger  son  of 
a  nobleman  was  chosen  to  represent  the  family  in  the 
church.  If  the  older  brother  died,  the  future  bishop 
would  become  a  duke  instead  ;  he  would  exchange  the 
church  for  the  army,  and  he  would  be  quite  as  well 
fitted  for  the  latter  profession  as  the  former.  But  if 
he  did  not  succeed  to  the  family  titles  and  honors,  he 
chose  religion  as  a  vocation,  and  by  the  time  he  was 
twenty,  he  was  given  a  well-endowed  abbey.  The 
duties  were  nominal,  and,  if  the  income  was  suffi- 
cient, the  abbe  passed  his  days  at  the  court,  leading  a 
life  which  differed  little  from  that  of  his  brother,  the 
colonel.  If  he  made  his  way,  he  soon  became  a  royal 
almoner ;  he  was  on  good  terms  with  the  favorite ;  oc- 
casionally he  pronounced  a  sermon  in  the  royal  chapel, 
in  which  well-turned  sentences  were  interspersed  with 
judicious  references  to  Louis  the  Well  Beloved.  At 
thirty-five,  our  abbe  became  a  bishop  with  an  income 
of  one  hundred  thousand  livres  ;  he  might  lead  a  life 
free  from  scandal,  but  his  career  had  not  fitted  him  to 
exercise  any  strong  religious  influence  upon  his  flock. 

It  was  natural  that  many  bishops  should  form  a 
part  of  the  court  at  Versailles,  like  the  other  members 
of  the  noble  families  to  which  they  belonged  and  from 


480  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

which  they  were  chosen.  In  1750,  one  fourth  of  the 
French  bishops  are  reported  as  having  their  residence 
at  Versailles  and  not  in  their  dioceses,  and  of  those 
who  nominally  resided  among  their  flocks,  many  found 
relief  from  the  tedium  of  provincial  existence  by  long 
stays  in  the  more  congenial  atmosphere  of  the  court 
As  we  read  of  some  of  these  great  ecclesiastics,  we 
are  not  surprised  that  their  spiritual  influence  was 
small.  It  was  not  often  that  these  worldly  prelates 
found  time  for  episcopal  visits,  and  when  they  could 
no  longer  be  postponed,  the  bishop  went  the  rounds  of 
his  diocese,  drawn  by  six  horses,  with  ofl&cers  riding 
in  front  to  announce  the  approach  of  his  eminence. 
The  spectacle  was  splendid,  but  not  spiritual.  At  the 
palace  of  the  Bishop  of  Langres  there  was  music  twice 
a  week,  and  the  gambling-table  always  stood  ready 
for  the  amusement  of  his  guests.  The  charms  of  the 
episcopal  palace  of  Viviers,  when  occupied  by  Lafont 
de  Savins,  were  often  told.  Both  taste  and  money 
had  been  liberally  expended  in  adding  to  the  attrac- 
tions of  the  grounds ;  the  bishop  had  even  seen  to  it 
that  the  groves  should  be  thickly  stocked  with  night- 
ingales; within  the  palace  music  and  dancing  went 
on  until  late,  the  beautiful  sister  of  a  neighboring 
abbe  was  prominent  in  all  entertainments,  and  the 
manner  in  which  she  sang  romances  and  accompanied 
them  on  the  harp  always  gave  great  pleasure  to  the 
guests.^  The  Bishop  of  Troyes  celebrated  the  resto- 
ration of  his  nephew  to  health  by  the  perfonnance  of 
a  comic  opera  at  his  home.-^  The  Bishop  of  Mans  was 
an  ardent  sportsman,  and  one  Sunday,  when  hunting, 
he  met  a  procession  marching  with  cross  and  banner 

*  Le  Schisme  constitutionnel  dans  VArdeche. 
'  Nouvelles  ecclesiastiques,  1762. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     481 

and  singing  the  litany  of  the  Virgin  ;  he  did  not  wait, 
and  the  bearers  of  cross  and  religious  symbols  had  to 
stop  until  the  bishop  of  the  flock,  with  his  dogs  and 
his  huntsmen,  had  crossed  the  road.^  A  similar  inci- 
dent occurred  to  Cardinal  Rohan  when  he  was  minis- 
ter at  Vienna,  and  the  scandal  caused  by  his  riding 
through  a  religious  procession  was  among  the  many 
grievances  Maria  Theresa  had  against  him. 

A  certain  analogy  can  be  drawn  between  the  con- 
dition of  the  higher  clergy  in  France  not  long  prior 
to  the  Revolution,  and  the  position  of  many  of  the 
great  dignitaries  among  the  Italian  clergy  before  the 
Reformation.  We  must  allow  for  differences  in  time 
and  in  race.  The  courtly  bishops  of  Louis  XV.  were 
not  altogether  like  the  followers  of  Leo  X. ;  the  life 
of  elegant  amusement  which  was  led  by  Cardinal 
Rohan  was  not  the  career  of  finished  scholarship  and 
refined  luxury  of  Cardinal  Bembo ;  the  dissipations 
of  the  Abbe  Count  of  Clermont  were  not  the  vices 
of  a  Borgia ;  but  at  Paris,  as  at  Rome,  there  was  the 
same  want  of  strong  religious  feeling,  the  same  readi- 
ness to  appropriate  the  wealth  intended  for  the  uses 
of  piety  in  order  to  obtain  the  pleasures  of  the  world, 
and  in  both  cases  the  example  set  by  the  rulers  of  the 
church  lessened  the  hold  upon  the  people  of  the  insti- 
tution which  they  represented.'-^ 

If  the  bishops  often  gave  little  heed  to  tlie  spiritual 
welfare  of  their  flocks,  still  less  zeal  could  be  expected 
from  the  great  body  of  abbes  and  inferior  dignitaries, 
who  enjoyed  a  large  portion  of  the  revenues  of  the 

*  Histoire  de  VEglke  de  Mans,  vi.  5-J8  ;  Campan,  Mem.,  i.  68. 

2  This  account  of  the  higher  clergy  should  be  confined  to  the 
reign  of  Louis  XV.  ;  even  during  the  short  reign  of  Louis  X\  x., 
there  was  some  improvement  in  their  average  character. 


482  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

church  without  the  pretense  of  taking  any  part  in 
church  work.  It  would  be  unfair  to  take  the  career 
of  the  Abbe  Count  of  Clermont  as  a  specimen  of  the 
French  clergy,  for  his  connection  with  the  church  was 
purely  nominal.  If  as  Abbot  of  St.  Germain  he  sup- 
ported dancers  of  the  ballet  in  splendid  luxury,  he 
made  no  pretense  to  virtue,  he  was  not  a  priest,  he 
chose  the  career  of  a  soldier,  and  took  no  more  part 
in  religious  work  than  Marshal  Belle  Isle  or  Maurice 
de  Saxe ;  but  he  enjoyed  a  great  share  of  the  church's 
wealth,  for  which  exemption  from  taxation  was  asked 
because  it  was  needed  for  God's  service.  The  liv- 
ings of  the  Count  of  Clermont  yielded  him  an  in- 
come greater  than  two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
would  be  to-day,  and  this  he  spent  in  riotous  living. 
When  immunity  from  the  burdens  of  the  state  was  de- 
manded in  behalf  of  wealth  that  was  squandered  on 
the  first  lady  of  the  ballet  in  a  manner  to  scandalize 
all  Paris,  it  was  evident  that  such  claims  no  longer 
rested  on  any  just  ground,  that  this  talk  of  exemp- 
tions required  for  God's  service  was  a  nauseous  false- 
hood, and  it  needed  no  political  prophet  to  see  that 
this  condition  of  things  could  not  much  longer  endure. 
It  was  bad  when  the  lives  of  men,  who  nominally 
had  devoted  themselves  to  religious  work,  were  fuU  of 
scandal;  it  was  worse  when  men  without  religious 
belief  asked  for  the  punishment  of  those  who  refused 
to  accept  doctrines  in  which  the  persecutors  them- 
selves had  no  faith.  The  Archbishop  of  Toulouse  led 
a  life  no  more  edifying  than  that  of  his  brother  of 
Mans,  and  in  private  he  scoffed  at  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  yet  he  exhorted  the  king  to  finish  the 
work  of  Louis  the  Great  and  blot  out  all  trace  of 
Protestantism  from  the  land ;  the  cry  of  intolerance, 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     483 

when  It  proceeded  from  those  who  disregarded  the 
demands  of  morality  and  refused  to  acknowledge  the 
truth  of  the  doctrines  they  preached,  made  their  posi- 
tion not  only  anomalous,  but  odious.^ 

If  great  ecclesiastical  revenues  had  been  required 
for  the  support  of  the  clergy,  or  had  been  largely  em' 
ployed  in  charitable  works,  in  the  care  of  the  sick  and 
the  relief  of  the  poor,  the  immunity  from  taxation 
which  they  had  so  long  enjoyed  would  still  have  had 
reasons  for  its  existence.  But  as  a  rule  the  poor  re- 
ceived a  larger  proportion  of  the  scanty  stipends  of 
the  curates  than  of  the  great  incomes  of  the  princes 
of  the  church.  "  Cardinal  Soubise  is  dead,"  writes 
Argenson  ;  "  he  left  three  millions  in  cash  and  not  a 
sou  for  the  poor."  ^  Doubtless  many  wealthy  prelates 
gave  somewhat  to  good  works ;  in  many  of  the  institu- 
tions of  the  regular  clergy  the  ancient  traditions  of  a 
liberal  charity  were  by  no  means  extinct,  but  as  a  rule 
the  wealth  of  the  church  was  used  neither  for  the 
greater  glory  of  God  nor  the  greater  good  of  man, 
except  of  the  few  fortunate  possessors  of  opulent  bish- 
oprics, rich  abbeys,  and  well-paid  ecclesiastical  sine- 
cures.^ 

Even  within  the  church  the  contributions  paid  the 
state  fell  in  undue  proportion  on  the  poorer  members. 

^  It  was  of  the  Archbishop  of  Toulouse  that  Louis  XVI.  said, 
when  his  claims  were  urged  for  the  see  of  Paris,  "  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Paris  must  believe  in  God."  Due  de  L^vis,  Souvenirs, 
103. 

2  Journal,  July  6, 1756.  The  cardinal  died  at  thirty-eight,  and 
his  death,  so  Argenson  says,  was  due  to  drink  and  debauchery 
(ix.  292). 

8  Instances  of  the  reluctance  of  the  wealthy  clergy  to  answer 
the  demands  of  charity  are  given  in  Taine's  L'ancien  regime,  and 
in  the  cahiers  of  the  States  General. 


484  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

The  Bishop  of  Verdun,  with  almost  sixty  thousand 
livres  of  revenue,  contributed  only  one  hundred  and 
eighty  towards  the  payment  of  the  gift  to  the  king ; 
the  chapter  of  the  cathedral  of  Dijon,  with  over  twenty 
thousand  of  income,  paid  less  than  three  hundred,  and 
the  burden  of  raising  the  sums  voted  the  government 
was  left  so  entirely  to  the  poorer  clergy  that  an  edict 
forbade  placing  an  imposition  greater  than  sixty  livres 
on  cur^s  whose  income  did  not  exceed  three  hundred.^ 
The  case  of  the  Bishop  of  Verdun  was  probably  not 
an  extreme  one,  and  at  that  rate  he  paid  hardly  one 
quarter  of  one  per  cent,  on  his  income,  while  an  ob- 
scure cure  paid  twenty  per  cent. 

Though  the  church  in  some  degree  had  lost  its  hold 
on  the  community,  its  organization  was  sufficiently 
strong  to  defeat  the  effort  now  made  to  subject  its 
property  to  taxation.  The  edict  of  1749  declared  that 
there  should  be  no  exemptions  from  its  provisions, 
and  this  was  succeeded  in  the  following  year  by  an- 
other which  required  all  persons  holding  property 
in  mortmain  to  make  a  public  declaration  of  their 
revenues,  in  order  to  secure  a  more  just  contribution 
towards  the  needs  of  the  state.  Six  months  were 
given  the  clergy  in  which  to  report  the  property  they 
held  and  the  income  which  it  yielded  ;  the  six  months 
expired,  no  reports  were  made,  and  there  the  matter 
rested. 

The  assembly  of  the  church  met,  and  the  king  de- 
manded from  it  a  contribution  of  seven  million  five 
hundred  thousand  livres  ;  the  clergy  refused  to  give 
anything  unless  their  immunities  were  ratified  and 

*  Declaration,  1690 ;  Deliberation  du  clerge,  1747 ;  Mem.  de 
Luynes,  1754  ;  Arch,  de  la  Cote  d'Or,  cited  by  Marion,  Machault 
d'AmouvUle,  222. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  BE  POMPADOUR.     485 

their  exemption  from  capitation  solemnly  recognized. 
"  Is  Christ  to  be  subjected  to  the  taiUe  ?  "  asked  one 
prelate.  "  We  will  not  consent,"  said  others,  "  that 
what  has  been  the  gift  of  our  respect  shall  become 
the  tribute  of  our  obedience."  It  needed  more  vigor- 
ous action  than  could  be  expected  from  the  infirm 
government  of  Louis  XV.  to  enforce  obedience  to  the 
demands  that  were  now  made ;  the  assembly  dispersed 
without  even  voting  the  free  gift  which  had  been  ac- 
corded from  time  immemorial ;  as  a  result  of  the  effort 
to  impose  a  tax  by  right,  the  government  lost  even  the 
little  which  it  had  been  wont  to  receive  as  a  gratuity. 

There  were  also  potent  influences  at  the  court  which 
helped  to  thwart  Machault's  efforts.  The  minister, 
said  the  prelates  and  confessors  who  had  the  ear  of 
the  sovereign,  was  but  a  tool  of  the  atheists  and 
philosophers  who  sought  to  overthrow  all  religion, 
and  he  was  seeking  to  involve  the  most  Christian 
king  in  hostility  with  the  church  that  was  the  firmest 
support  of  his  throne.  The  time  had  not  yet  come 
when  the  demands  of  the  public,  or  the  writings  of 
skeptics,  could  prevail  against  the  steadfast  opposition 
of  the  clerical  organization.  In  1755,  the  assembly  of 
the  clergy  again  met,  and  voted  a  free  gift  of  sixteen 
million  livres  to  cover  a  period  of  three  years ;  the 
king  thanked  his  faithfid  clergy  for  their  loving  zeal, 
and  the  effort  to  impose  on  the  church  the  burdens 
falling  on  the  rest  of  the  community  was  not  again 
made  under  the  old  regime. 

Undoubtedly,  if  the  principle  of  church  immunity 
had  been  once  done  away  with,  other  burdens  would 
have  followed  the  capitation.  Even  then  it  would 
have  been  the  part  of  wisdom  to  submit ;  the  stubborn 
effort  made  by  the  clergy  and  the  nobility  to  hold 


486  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

privileges  which  had  no  further  reason  for  existence, 
which  were  unjust  and  were  becoming  odious,  at  last 
involved  them  in  .common  disaster ;  those  who  had 
too  long  held  unfair  advantages  were  subjected  to 
spoliation  which  was  equally  unjust ;  those  who  had 
refused  to  share  in  the  public  burdens,  at  last  had 
nothing  left  for  themselves.  But  a  privileged  body 
rarely  surrenders  its  advantages,  and  the  clergy  at  this 
time  merely  failed  to  display  any  extraordinary  wis- 
dom or  extraordinary  magnanimity. 

The  contests  with  the  Parliament  extended  over  a 
large  part  of  Louis  XV.'s  reign,  and  they  raged  with 
unusual  bitterness  in  these  years  of  peace.  A  trouble 
that  had  become  chronic  would  hardly  need  any  further 
reference,  were  it  not  that  the  disobedience  of  the 
judges  was  now  marked  by  unusual  boldness  of  lan- 
guage, and  that  the  conduct  of  the  government  was 
characterized  by  more  than  its  ordinary  vacillation. 

The  cause  of  these  disputes  was  found  in  the  ancient 
quarrel  over  the  Unigenitus,  and  in  the  bigotry  with 
which  the  clergy  sought  to  enforce  its  acceptance. 
The  Parliament  was  Jansenist,  and  so  were  the  Pa- 
risian bourgeoisie,  while  among  the  clergy  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Jesuits  was  supreme.  Long  before,  the 
judges  had  protested  against  the  refusal  of  the  sacra- 
ments to  the  dying  who  were  unprovided  with  certifi- 
cates from  a  priest,  attesting  their  acceptance  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Unigenitus.  A  form  of  persecution, 
as  repulsive  to  humanity  as  it  was  contrary  to  religion, 
was  strangely  out  of  place  at  the  very  time  the  il<ncy- 
clopsedia  was  appearing,  and  the  influence  of  the 
church  was  subjected  to  attacks  more  dangerous  than 
it  had  ever  been  called  to  withstand.  But  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Paris  was  a  man  whose  beliefs  were  as  sin- 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     487 

cere  as  they  were  narrow ;  he  was  uncompromising  in 
his  views,  and  one  of  those  who,  when  born  out  of  due 
season,  are  fitted  to  do  the  utmost  harm  to  the  cause 
they  espouse.  He  bade  his  clergy  to  be  severe  in  ex- 
amining the  orthodoxy  of  those  who  asked  for  the  last 
sacraments,  and  they  were  often  refused  the  dying. 

Each  of  these  cases  aroused  the  ire  of  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  so  frequent  were  they  that  the  care  of  souls 
occupied  almost  as  much  of  its  time  as  the  administra- 
tion of  justice.  The  cures  were  admonished  by  the 
bishop  to  be  firm  in  their  refusal ;  the  Parliament  or- 
dered them  to  administer  the  sacraments  to  the  dying 
who  demanded  them,  and  punished  disobedience  by 
severe  penalties ;  an  offending  priest  often  saw  his 
small  effects  seized  by  ttie  bailiff  and  sold  at  public 
vendue  because  he  had  obeyed  the  orders  of  his  arch- 
bishop. In  this  controversy  the  king  at  first  espoused 
the  cause  of  the  clergy  ;  edicts  of  the  Parliament  were 
annulled  by  orders  of  the  council ;  the  judges  remon- 
strated, and  Louis  forbade  their  interference  with  mat- 
ters beyond  their  jurisdiction.  The  judges  constantly 
protested  their  loyalty,  but  they  met  the  orders  of  the 
king  with  persistent  disobedience. 

These  disputes  became  important  because  they  ex- 
cited in  a  community  that  sympathized  with  the  courts 
a  spirit  of  insubordinate  questioning  of  which  there 
had  been  few  traces  in  the  past.  The  feeling  of  dis- 
content was  fostered,  not  only  by  the  quarrels  with 
the  Parliament,  but  by  the  unsatisfactory  condition  of 
the  national  finances,  the  weight  of  taxation,  the  grow- 
ing contempt  for  Louis  XV.'s  character,  and,  most  of 
all,  by  the  popularity  of  a  literature  that  questioned  the 
foundations  of  established  forms  of  government  and 
belief.      "The  Jansenist  party,"  said  Barbier,  who 


4'88  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

was  much  in  sympathy  with  them,  "  is  inclined  to  be 
republican."  ^  Few  of  them  would  have  admitted 
this  ;  the  very  use  of  the  word  "  republican  "  when  ap- 
plied to  a  Frenchman  was  a  novelty,  but  their  opposi- 
tion to  the  government  was  dangerous  to  institutions 
of  more  importance  than  tickets  of  confession. 

The  language  of  the  Parliament  does  not  seem 
revolutionary  to  us,  yet  it  was  inconsistent  with  the 
principles  of  an  absolute  monarchy.  In  the  laws  and 
forms  of  which  the  tribunals  are  the  depositaries  and 
guardians,  said  one  of  their  edicts,  "  is  the  only  cer- 
tainty for  the  preservation  of  a  just  monarchy,  for  the 
safety  of  the  lives  and  the  liberties  of  the  subjects."  ^ 
The  complaints  of  the  public  were  more  unrestrained 
and  more  personal.  "  There  is  no  sort  of  evil  and 
indecent  talk  that  is  not  heard  in  Paris  about  the 
king,"  says  a  Parisian ;  "  they  are  fanatical  against 
the  authority  of  the  sovereign."  ^ 

In  this  condition  of  feeling  some  foresaw  danger 
for  the  future,  and  in  1752,  Argenson  declared  that 
the  changes  in  public  opinion  might  grow  until  they 
produced  revolution.  But  in  truth  no  violent  altera- 
tion in  the  form  of  government  was  as  yet  practica- 
ble ;  if  a  demand  for  reform  could  be  heard,  it  was 
still  possible  to  appease  it,  and  by  a  modification  of 
existing  institutions   to  prevent  their  overthrow. 

If  the  courts  no  longer  yielded  the  prompt  obedi- 
ence which  the  sovereign  demanded,  they  were  encour- 
aged in  their  resistance  by  the  vacillation  of  the  gov- 
ernment. Louis  XIV.  had  suppressed  the  political 
activity  of  the  Parliaments  with  a  stern  hand,  and 

'  Barbier,  July,  1752. 

«  Arret,  March  6,  1752. 

•  Barbier,  June,  1754  ;  December,  1756. 


THE  REIGN  OF'  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     489 

they  submitted  to  an  authority  that  was  resolved  to  en- 
force its  decrees ;  but  the  administration  of  Louis  XV. 
neither  conciliated  nor  intimidated  its  adversaries. 

In  the  contest  between  the  church  and  the  judiciary 
the  sympathy  of  the  king  was  naturally  with  the 
clergy  ;  he  was  a  bigoted  Catholic,  and  he  had  always 
been  surrounded  by  members  of  the  ultramontane 
party.  The  Parliament  was  repeatedly  ordered  to 
abstain  from  interference  with  matters  of  religious 
doctrine.  Little  disturbed  by  such  injunctions,  it  in 
turn  forbade  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  causing  further 
scandal  by  refusals  to  allow  the  sacraments  to  be  ad- 
ministered to  the  dying.  As  he  declined  to  comply 
with  such  orders,  the  officers  of  the  court  were  bidden 
to  seize  his  property  as  a  penalty  of  disobedience,  and 
the  peers  of  the  kingdom  were  invited  to  meet  with 
the  judges  and  confer  on  fit  measures  to  be  adopted. 

These  decrees  were  promptly  annulled,  and  in  May, 
1753,  the  judges  declared  they  would  attend  to  no 
further  business,  and  the  courts  were  closed.  The  king 
ordered  them  to  resume  their  duties,  and  on  their  re- 
fusal a  large  number  were  banished  to  various  parts 
of  the  country,  and  the  sittings  of  the  Parliament  were 
transferred  to  Pontoise.  As  its  members  were  stub- 
born in  their  resolution  not  to  hold  sessions  anywhere, 
this  measure  was  not  important. 

Closing  the  courts  caused  serious  embarrassment  in 
the  large  part  of  France  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Parliament  of  Paris.  Not  only  was  a  stop  put  to 
litigation,  but  thousands  of  persons  were  dependent 
on  the  courts  for  their  livelihood,  and  now  found 
themselves  without  occupation.  The  judges,  with  their 
families,  their  servants,  and  many  minor  officials,  re- 
moved to  Pontoise  or  their  various  places  of  banish- 


490  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

ment,  and  the  Parisian  shopkeepers  calculated  that 
they  were  thus  deprived  of  twenty  thousand  consum- 
ers of  their  wares.^ 

It  was  at  this  time  of  political  agitation  that  the 
ill-fated  Louis  XVI.  was  born.  On  the  8th  of  Sep- 
tember, the  dauphine  gave  birth  to  a  second  son,  who 
received  the  title  of  the  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  and  who 
subsequently  by  his  brother's  death  became  the  dau- 
phin. The  popular  discontent  over  the  courts  did 
not  prevent  the  ordinary  manifestations  of  joy  at  the 
birth  of  a  son  in  the  royal  family.  All  the  houses 
of  the  city  were  illuminated,  the  hotels  were  magnifi- 
cently decorated,  and  in  the  public  places  until  late 
in  the  night,  by  a  clear  moon,  the  violins  twanged 
and  the  populace  danced  and  drank.  No  one  who  saw 
the  Parisian  populace  rejoicing  over  the  birth  of  the 
new  prince,  with  the  river  from  the  Pont  Neuf  to  the 
Bourbon  palace  aglow  with  magnificent  illuminations, 
with  crowds  alike  of  bourgeois  and  nobles  watching 
the  popular  demonstrations  of  joy,  and  an  innumer- 
able throng  of  carriages  driving  through  the  streets 
that  their  occupants  might  enjoy  the  splendor  of  this 
demonstration,  would  have  imagined  that  within  forty 
years,  in  the  same  city,  this  unfortunate  child  would  be 
executed  to  satisfy  a  popular  demand  for  his  blood. 

The  struggle  between  the  courts  and  the  king  was 
long  continued ;  not  until  late  in  the  following  year 
were  the  judges  recalled  from  their  exile  and  was  the 
ordinary  administration  of  justice  resumed.  An  en- 
deavor had  been  made  to  confer  upon  a  newly  created 
Royal  Chamber  the  jurisdiction  which  the  Parliament 
refused  to  exercise,  but  it  met  with  poor  success.  The 
people  were  attached  to  the  old  courts  and  mistrustful 
*  Barbier,  May,  1753  ;  Mem.  de  Bemis,  i.  331. 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     491 

of  the  new  judges  ;  litigants  were  unwilling  to  appear 
before  them,  and  when  the  members  of  the  Parliament 
were  at  last  recalled,  Louis  in  substance  conceded  the 
points  from  which  the  struggle  had  grown,  and  they 
resumed  their  seats  in  triumph. 

The  king  now  declared  by  an  edict  of  September, 
1754,  that  there  should  be  an  end  of  these  controver- 
sies, and  forbade  all  innovations  in  matters  of  religion. 
This  was  interpreted  by  the  judges  as  tacitly  for- 
bidding tickets  of  confession,  and  such  practically  was 
the  construction  put  upon  it  by  the  administration. 

The  Archbishop  of  Paris  could  no  more  be  silenced 
by  edicts  than  coidd  the  Parliament,  and  he  was  now 
sent  into  exile  for  contumacy.  He  retired  to  Lagny 
in  compliance  with  the  royal  commands,  but  he  per- 
sisted in  ordering  his  cures  to  demand  the  obnox- 
ious tickets  of  confession.  The  Parliament  took  rig- 
orous measures  against  the  clergy  who  obeyed  their 
bishop.  Decrees  were  pronounced  against  the  offend- 
ing priests,  and  if  they  fled  to  avoid  their  effect,  they 
were  punished  like  the  vilest  criminals. 

The  vicars  of  St.  Etienne  were  condemned  to  per- 
petual banishment,  and  for  greater  ignominy  the  decree 
was  attached  to  the  gallows  by  the  hangman.  An- 
other offending  priest  was  sentenced  for  contumacy  to 
the  galleys,  and  a  letter  of  the  Archbishop  of  Auch, 
protesting  against  these  measures  of  the  Parliament, 
was  delivered  to  the  hangman  to  be  burned.  The 
king  sought  to  restore  religious  tranquillity,  but  the 
judges  and  the  Jansenists,  in  their  triumph,  were  as 
eager  for  persecution  as  the  Archbishop,  of  Paris.^ 

^  The  incidents  of  the  long  contest  between  the  clergy  and 
the  judges  are  fully  described  in  the  Journals  of  Barbier  and 
Argenson  during  these  years. 


492  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

Such  affronts  offered  the  clergy  would  have  irri- 
tated a  community  in  which  respect  for  the  church 
was  strong,  but  most  of  the  Parisians  saw  with  entire 
unconcern  archbishops'  letters  burned  by  the  hang- 
man, and  sentences  against  priests  dangling  from  the 
gallows.  The  popular  ill  will  was  indeed  manifested 
chiefly  against  the  Jesuits,  but  the  Jesuits  were  now 
supreme  in  the  Gallican  Church,  and  the  secular 
clergy  were  only  tools  in  their  hands.  Moreover, 
the  influence  of  a  skeptical  literature  was  already 
strong ;  the  philosophers  made  no  distinction  between 
Jesuit  and  Jansenist,  and  erelong  the  community  was 
ready  to  treat  both  in  the  same  manner. 

In  the  years  following  the  war  of  the  Austrian  Suc- 
cession, we  can  notice  the  presence  of  new  political 
ideas,  even  the  use  of  new  political  terms,  which 
marked  the  beginning  of  the  intellectual  disquiet  that 
in  less  than  forty  years  resulted  in  revolution.  Most 
of  the  writers  whose  works  had  so  large  an  influence 
on  political  thought  now  became  recognized  forces 
in  society.  In  1751  began  the  publication  of  the 
Encyclopedia.  It  soon  encountered  the  anathemas 
of  the  church ;  it  was  repeatedly  put  under  the  ban  of 
the  government ;  but,  whether  allowed  or  forbidden, 
the  work  progressed,  and  in  its  volumes  were  found 
discussions  of  every  question  of  religion  and  politics 
and  society,  with  little  regard  for  existing  beliefs. 

Heretofore,  the  established  forms  of  government, 
like  the  established  tenets  of  religion,  had  been  re- 
ceived almost  without  question.  Doubtless  Bayle's 
dissolving  criticism  had  its  influence  on  the  French 
mind ;  the  "  Persian  Letters  "  contained  satires  on 
many  phases  of  society  and  government  which  would 
not  have  been  tolerated  nor  expressed  under  Louis 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.  DE  POMPADOUR.     493 

XIV. ;  even  the  earlier  writings  of  Voltaire  were  de- 
structive in  their  tendencies.  But  such  works  had  not 
largely  modified  the  feelings  of  the  public  towards 
church  or  state.  It  was  only  when  a  body  of  influen- 
tial writers  discussed  the  nature  of  government  and 
the  foundations  of  religious  belief  with  a  freedom  un- 
known in  the  past,  that  the  public  began  to  question 
the  wisdom  of  institutions  that  had  seemed  free  from 
danger  of  overthrow. 

Curiously  enough,  Mme.  de  Pompadour,  whose 
career  might  seem  the  crowning  evil  of  the  system 
that  made  it  possible,  was  by  no  means  an  enemy  of 
the  new  school  of  philosophers.  "  After  all,  she  was 
one  of  us,"  said  Voltaire ;  and  so  she  was.  The  fa- 
vorite was  always  ready  to  extend  her  protection  to 
the  great  iconoclast.  Doubtless  it  was  by  adroit  flat- 
tery that  Voltaire  won  her  good  will,  but  she  was  not 
disquieted  by  writings  which  others  regarded  as  sub- 
versive of  order  and  religion.  Louis  XV.  perhaps 
understood  better  the  danger  with  which  they  were 
fraught  to  the  system  of  which  he  was  the  represen- 
tative, and  he  was,  moreover,  a  man  who  viewed  all 
innovators  with  ill  will.  It  was  the  royal  opposition 
that  long  kept  Voltaire  from  the  seat  in  the  Academy 
to  which  his  literary  prominence  so  manifestly  entitled 
him.  "If  M.  de  Voltaire  does  not  belong  to  the 
Academy,"  asked  a  German  prince  in  amazement, 
"  who  does  belong  ?  "  One  might  well  have  wondered 
where  forty  men  could  be  found  more  deserving  of 
literary  honor  than  the  most  famous  of  French  writ- 
ers. At  last  the  king  was  persuaded  to  withdraw  his 
veto,  and,  in  1746,  Voltaire  was  formally  admitted 
among  the  immortals.  In  1745,  Mme.  de  Pompadour 
procured  for  him  the  position  of  historiographer,  and 


494  FRANCE   UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

he  became  a  regular  member  of  the  court ;  he  was  a 
gentleman  of  the  chamber,  and  entitled  to  his  place 
among  those  who  stood  around  the  sovereign.  But 
if  Voltaire  could  not  long  remain  an  inmate  of  Sans 
Souci,  it  was  still  more  impossible  for  him  to  continue 
a  member  of  the  court  of  Versailles,  and,  much  against 
his  own  will,  he  soon  left  it  forever. 

Voltaire  was  not  the  only  one  of  the  philosophers 
to  whom  Mme.  de  Pompadour  extended  her  favor, 
and  there  were  few  of  them  who  suffered  from  her 
ill  will.  The  vices  and  follies  of  her  career  were 
helping  to  undermine  the  old  regime,  and  at  the  same 
time  she  bestowed  her  patronage  on  a  revolutionary 
literature  aimed  at  the  entire  overthrow  of  existing 
institutions.  It  is  curious  to  reflect  that  while  this 
frivolous  woman  was  acting  as  a  sort  of  burlesque 
prime  minister,  social  and  political  changes  were  be- 
ginning that  were  to  revolutionize  France,  and  to 
influence  modern  society  more  profoundly  than  any 
events  since  the  religious  reformation  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 

These  changes  must  be  considered  elsewhere.  While 
philosophers  were  discussing  theories  of  governing,  a 
war  began  which  severely  tested  existing  institutions, 
and,  though  long  brewing,  it  found  the  government 
of  Louis  XV.  unprepared. 

It  was  a  serious  misfortune  for  the  French  that  the 
last  great  soldier  under  the  old  regime  did  not  live  to 
take  part  in  the  last  great  war  of  the  French  mon- 
archy. Maurice  de  Saxe  was  indeed  a  foreigner  by 
birth,  but  France  was  his  adopted  country,  and  he  had 
acquired  such  fame  in  his  profession  that  no  intrigues 
could  have  kept  him  from  the  command  of  the  army 
when  France  was  at  war.     Mnie.  de  Pompadour  would 


THE  REIGN  OF  MME.   DE  POMPADOUR.     495 

not  have  sent  a  Soubise  to  oppose  a  Frederick  if 
Maurice  had  lived,  and  the  disaster  of  Kossbach 
would  have  been  averted. 

Marshal  Saxe  might  have  anticipated  a  long  life,  if 
a  frame  of  extraordinary  vigor  had  not  been  impaired 
by  a  career  of  vmusual  dissipation ;  his  physique  was 
as  powerful  as  it  was  imposing,  his  feats  of  strength 
seemed  legendary,  he  was  a  true  son  of  Augustus  the 
Strong,  and  it  was  said  he  could  bend  a  horseshoe  in 
his  hands.  At  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Austrian 
Succession,  Maurice  retired  to  Chambord,  which  had 
been  bestowed  upon  him  as  a  reward  for  his  success, 
there  to  enjoy  his  fame  and  the  career  of  amusement 
for  which  he  was  as  eager  at  fifty  as  when  he  had  been 
the  youthful  lover  of  Adrienne  Lecouvreur.  The 
famous  chateau  of  Chambord  had  many  illustrious 
occupants,  but  none  of  them  were  more  imlike  than 
Marshal  Saxe  and  his  immediate  predecessor.  The 
last  tenant  had  been  Stanislaus,  under  whom  the 
Chambord  once  occupied  by  Diana  of  Poitiers  resem- 
bled the  abode  of  a  pious  and  contented  bourgeois ; 
order  and  economy  prevailed,  the  inmates  were  fre- 
quent in  prayer,  their  pleasures  were  not  exciting  and 
were  always  innocent. 

The  old  palace  of  the  Valois  beheld  very  different 
scenes  when  it  was  occupied  by  the  hero  of  Fontenoy. 
Maurice  had  gone  through  life  filled  with  dreams  of 
royalty ;  he  had  ranged  from  Madagascar  to  the 
islands  of  the  Antilles  in  search  of  a  land  of  which  he 
might  become  the  sovereign.  These  hopes  had  been 
disappointed,  but  at  Chambord  he  gratified  himself 
by  assuming  some  of  the  insignia  of  royalty  as  well 
as  the  panoply  of  warfare.  He  was  allowed  to  keep 
there  a  regiment  of  soldiers,  the  ramparts  were  pa- 


496  FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XV. 

trolled  by  sentinels,  cannon  guarded  the  entrance, 
flags  captured  from  many  nations  adorned  the  halls, 
and,  amid  these  martial  surroundings,  he  divided  his 
time  between  reviewing  his  troops  and  indulging  in 
other  and  more  harmful  pleasures.  Not  only  soldiers 
but  singers  and  actresses  made  up  the  court  of  the 
ruler  of  Chambord.  Maurice  loved  low  company,  so 
Grimm  said,  partly  from  choice  and  partly  from 
pride ;  bacchanalians  were  to  his  taste,  and  he  desired 
also  to  have  about  him  only  those  who  yielded  the 
submission  of  subjects. 

One  of  the  marshal's  innumerable  intrigues  pos- 
sesses a  certain  interest  for  posterity.  A  young  singer 
at  the  opera,  named  Marie  Hinteau,  gained  his  favor, 
and  by  her  he  had  a  daughter  who  became  known  as 
Aurora  of  Saxe.  She  married  an  illegitimate  son  of 
Louis  XV.  and  was  the  ancestress  of  George  Sand,  in 
whose  character  as  well  as  in  whose  talent  we  may 
perhaps  find  some  points  of  resemblance  with  the 
famous  warrior  who  was  her  great-grandfather. 

In  1750,  when  Maurice  was  only  fifty-four  years  of 
age,  his  iron  frame  succiunbed  to  the  infirmities  caused 
by  his  vices.  His  death  left  the  road  clear  for  such 
generals  as  Richelieu  and  Soubise,  and  perhaps  changed 
the  course  of  the  Seven  Years'  war. 


S8  07 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 

COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

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